


It's for the best.

by Blackcatschasingladybugs (dorkygabriel)



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Angst, F/M, Marinette/Nathanael mentioned, but then i had an evil idea, im sorry, it started off so fluffy, sorry - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-05-21
Updated: 2016-11-21
Packaged: 2018-06-09 21:42:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 29
Words: 40,964
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6924529
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dorkygabriel/pseuds/Blackcatschasingladybugs
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Based on this prompt: http://otpprompts.tumblr.com/post/144469682685/persons-a-and-b-are-not-together-yet-a-had-a </p><p>Wherein Marinette needs to get over her previous relationship, Chat Noir finds her, and things escalate from there.</p><p>(EDIT: This is now an angst (& trash) pile, with some sort of plot wound in. Enjoy?)</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. It's for the best.

**Author's Note:**

> This is the first Miraculous fic I'll have posted, wahey! I hope you all enjoy. Think of this first chapter as just some background info, hence why it is so short! FYI, the characters are aged up in this fic to about 18.

  _It's for the best._ That phrase, singed into her memory, kept coming back up to the surface of her mind. It had been a few months now, she shouldn't still be hung up on Nathanael. She tried to forget about it, since she knew all too well what negative feelings brought along in this town, and she was determined not to fall into Hawkmoth's radar. But after a year long relationship, it was hard not to be upset when it just ended. The double bed she lay on held too many memories with him, cuddled up while watching Netflix and eating takeout. The place where he drew the moment to never forget it. It seemed ironic now, but his pictures still hung up on the wall, she didn't want to take them down yet, because that felt too final. She stared at them, her heart aching. Tikki watched her from across the room. It'd been hard for her to see Marinette like this, nothing she did could cheer her up. She flew over, nudging her lightly.

"You know you can't get akumatised, Mari. Let your feelings out, it'll help!" 

"You never know, Tikki. I can't let myself become one of Hawkmoth's victims." She shivered. She couldn't imagine how easy it would be for Hawkmoth to take their miraculous' if either she or Chat got akumatised.

Tikki frowned, wishing she could get Mari out of her current slump, or at least convince her that the truth was in fact, _the truth_. "You should call Alya. She always knows what to do, right?"

Marinette debated the idea for a while, but finally nodded. Alya always managed to cheer her up somewhat, or at least pull her away from her thoughts for a while.

"You're right." She sat up to grab her phone, dialling her best friends number.

"You're still upset, huh?" Alya asked when she rang, no need for small talk with this two. Marinette's sigh was enough of an answer to prompt Alya to continue.

"Girl, you can't let this eat at you! You've gotta get back out there. Go out this weekend, get drunk, enjoy yourself for once!"

Marinette was happy to just listen to her friend. "I'm serious. I'll come with you if you want?"

"Nah, you spend time with Nino. I'll be fine."

"Alright. But I better be receiving a drunk text from you this weekend, okay?"

Marinette laughed a little. "Okay."

As she put the phone down, Tikki flew over, nuzzling against Mari's cheek. "There's your beautiful smile."

Sadly it didn't last long, as Mari's phone lit up with a news notification about the latest akuma. That app had become a -literal- lifesaver, since she still felt guilty for missing the starts of fights because she didn't know they were happening. "Duty calls. Spots on!"

After her phone call with Alya, she felt more happy and confident, bouncing into the fight with ease. It was a singer who had been publicly embarrassed and now went by 'Sirène', hypnotising people with her song. Ladybug swung over the crowd of mindless zombies to try and reach Sirène, as Chat Noir jumped to her side. Before either of them could say a word, she was blasting them back into the crowd with an emission of sound waves. Ladybug grumbled as she and Chat stood back up to fight, using their yo-yo and baton respectively to block her song. One of the hits ricocheted back at her, startling her, which gave Ladybug a chance to summon her lucky charm. It was two pairs of spotted ear muffs.

"Ear muffs?" Chat scoffed. "No offence, M'lady, but it's the middle of summer, I don't think we need those."

Ladybug ignored his remark as she let herself think. "Ah-ha! Put them on, Chat, it'll block her song so we can get close to her. Distract her for a second." Chat placed them atop his head, letting them flatten the fake cat ears. He then yelled -accidentally, he couldn't hear himself well- at her and posed dramatically while she tried to blow him back with different notes. He just laughed at her, and she then noticed the ear muffs, so ordered her mindless minions to attack him and pull them off. He easily swerved all of the attacks, jumping around and kicking them back. Luckily, all of this commotion allowed Ladybug to get up onto the lowest but closest roof, allowing her to make her move.

"You've sung your last song, sirène! Take a bow!" She yelled as she jumped down on her back, sending her flying to the floor.

Chat managed to dive over and pluck the microphone from her grip with a smile, before Sirène had the chance to get back up, and threw it to Ladybug. She then snapped it in half, purifying the akuma that flew out of it. Chat then passed his earmuffs, Ladybug took off her own and threw them into the air, yelling 'miraculous ladybug!' and watching in awe as the ladybirds fixed up the city and freed Hawkmoth's latest victim.

"Pound it!" Ladybug and Chat said in sync, fist-bumping.

"You've got an extra spring in your step today, M'lady!" Chat grinned. He'd noticed her slump these past few months but she always brushed it off, so seeing her truly herself again was a beautiful sight.

"A friend gave me the boost I needed." Speak of the devil, Marinette thought as Alya ran over with her camera. "You can go if you want, Chat, I'm going to stay for an interview."

Chat was about to answer her, but his miraculous did the talking for him. He sighed and smiled apologetically, before launching himself into the air. Ladybug smiled at Alya, manoeuvring her way through the crowds of regular press and walked over to her. Since she'd helped her as Marinette, she might as well repay her as Ladybug. The smile that grew on her best friend's face was enough to keep her spirits high for a while.   
  
"You want an interview?"


	2. Chat in shining armour.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Chat finds Marinette, and has to act on those goddamn superhero duties.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I really shouldn't be writing, since I have an exam tomorrow, but I have way too many ideas for this fic, goddamit. Enjoy my procrastination!

The akuma fight and Alya's interview had taken up most of her afternoon, so she was ready to let loose. She went home to get changed, but was soon out of the door again and heading down into town. The nightlife buzzed, but Marinette felt a slight bit of anxiety in her stomach. She'd never really gone out into a bar to party before, so she was a little nervous. Still, she spotted the closest bar, and walked over. Taking a deep breath in, she pushed open the door. And there she was met with a cocktail of odours, including but not limited to, alcohol, sweat and urine. Why Alya recommended this, she may never know, but she was prepared to give it a try now that she was feeling a little better anyway. She was a bit awkward trying to push past crowds of drunken people, but she finally made it to the bar where she sat down. Pulling her ID out of her purse, she asked for a few shots to try and get her in the right mood to party. She took the first one straight away, shivering slightly at the sharp taste. She heard one of her favourite songs begin to play, so she took the second shot and got onto the dance floor. It was packed full of people she didn't know, but she was ready to dance and forget about everything that was bothering her.

Her dance moves began to attract a crowd, but she didn't even notice, just utilising the extra dance floor space, evening singing along to parts of the song. "Another drink, please!"

She ended up gulping down 5 more shots and some other drinks she didn't care to remember, her dances becoming more sloppy with the influence of alcohol, but the crowd remained, cheering her on. She was laughing and cheering along with them, as the song changed. She paused for a minute, getting a few boos from people. "Wait, wait. I know this song!"

Her dancing continued, which cheered up the crowd probably more than it did herself. She shooed a few people out of the way so she could jump onto a table. That made the crowd erupt as she danced about on the table. She was laughing too much to notice that the bartender was yelling. It was only when the music was turned down that she booed and turned around to face him, wanting an explanation.

"That's it, you're finished! Get out!" He called, a glare in his eyes.

Marinette and the crowd booed him as she got down off of the table. As she danced her way to the door, the crowd cheered her once more. She bowed for them, which caused her to stumble slightly out of the bar door. She staggered down the street for a minute, thinking about what to do now. She didn't really feel like drinking anymore, and really, she couldn't even properly tell where in Paris she was. Luckily, she spotted a cab parked on the side of the road, so she skipped over and knocked on on the window, a smile on her face. The driver rolled it down, looking over at her.

"Hey! Can I go to, uh.. My house?" She asked sloppily.

"Not in my cab." The driver scoffed, noticing the alcohol on her breath, driving off again.

"Rude!" Marinette sighed. Walking it is. She began up the street, not knowing nor caring about whether she was going in the right direction, mumbling things to herself, thinking she was speaking to Tikki.

****

Adrien was jumping about on the rooftops since it was his night for patrol. He never complained, since being Chat gave him all the freedom he needed. He paused before jumping to the next rooftop to check the street. Same as usual. He lowered himself, and almost fell off of the rooftop when he spotted Marinette in the corner of his eyes. He sighed. When Marinette got together with Nathanael, he had felt a sting of jealousy. He decided to talk to Nino about it, who just laughed. Once he realised Adrien was being serious, he probably told him they were passing feelings since he finally realised what he had when it was gone. Adrien, though confused, agreed and decided to just keep his distance from Marinette, as Adrien and as Chat, to stop himself trying to act on the strange feelings. Trying to keep that promise, he shook away the want to go over to her and got ready to jump for the second time. And for the second time, he stopped himself. He saw he laugh at herself when she stumbled onto the road. He realised she was drunk, and he could hear a car coming around the corner. He wouldn't be much of a superhero if he let anyone get hit on his watch, even if it was someone he was trying to distance himself from. He quickly leaped down onto the road, running across and scooping Marinette up as he did. They got onto the path just as the car sped by, beeping its horn. Chat sighed as he let her down, preparing himself to leave.

"Chat!" She called with joy, waving enthusiastically. He is never going to finish his patrol at this rate.

"Hey, Mari." He turned to face her.

"I'm drunk," She laughed at herself.

"No kidding." He smiled at her laugh and _goddammit, Adrien, control yourself._

"I forgot where I live. Can you take me home, Chaton?" She gave her best attempt at puppy dog eyes.

Chat chewed on his lip. Yet again he rationalised that he couldn't leave her wandering the streets of Paris drunk, when there was a possibility of her getting hurt or getting arrested. These goddamn superhero responsibilities, messing with his goddamn feelings that he shouldn't be having.

"Sure, Princess." The nickname rolled off of his tongue before he could stop himself, opening his arms to her. "Hold on tight."

Marinette squealed happily, rushing to his side and wrapping her arms around his neck. Chat put his arm around her waist and launched them up into the air with his baton. It took them a few minutes to reach Marinette's rooftop, where he planned to leave. But as he could already predict, that did not go to plan. Marinette dragged him over to the trapdoor by his neck. He walked along with her to avoid hurting her arms with his super-stubborn-strength, or his neck. When she had to reach down to open the skylight, he shuffled backwards a few steps.

"C'mon, Chat, I'm lonely." She sighed, drawing out her words for emphasis

"Don't you have a boyfriend you can call?" He didn't care if she questioned how he knew that since she was drunk and probably wouldn't remember this tomorrow. He also didn't hold back the bitterness that clung to his voice.

"Nahhh, that is the past!" She practically fell down the ladder. "If you don't help me, I might die!"

Chat rolled his eyes, before thinking about it. She _was_ a fashion designer, and there was a lot of sharp things in her room because of that. Seeing how she was acting more clumsy than usual tonight, he concluded that it was a risk. He took a look at Paris, the city and duties he was abandoning for Marinette, before climbing down the ladder.   
  
"Alright, but only for a few hours."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you liked it! Next chapter, Marinette drunkenly spills her heart out.


	3. Mon Amour.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Marinette talks to Chat while drunk and that goes just as well as you could imagine.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm setting unrealistic standards for myself with these 3 chapters in 2 days, whoops. Sadly the rest wont come as quickly, apologies. Enjoy this chapter though!

Marinette smiled as she watched Chat come down into her room. She danced through the room and jumped onto her bed, bouncing a little. Chat looked around the room, marvelled at how much it had changed since the last time he was in here. The pink walls were now white, and her old bed had been replaced by a comfy looking double. One part of her room was dedicated to fashion, a mannequin stood with pieces of fabrics pinned into it, and a desk covered in patterns and designs. There were some paintings on the wall, which he caught himself staring at. After a few minutes he realised he was awkwardly stood in the corner of the room until Marinette patted the seat next to her.   
  
"C'mere you silly kitty."

Chat smiled, wandering over and sitting next to her. "Now," She turned to look him in the eyes. "Let me tell you a story."

"Is it a funny story?"

"You might think so. Okay. I liked this boy, Adrien Agreste, you probably know him, big shot model. Anyways. He never liked me back, and then I realised, I had to move on. Adrien was never gonna like me back."

Adrien sighed a little, knowing she wouldn't pick up on it.

"So, when Nathaniel decided to ask me out on a date, I said yes." She shrugged. "We hung out and I realised how nice he was. I really enjoyed myself. So we went on more dates! Then we got together, and it was good. For about 6 months. Then it changed, y'know?"

Marinette paused, staring at him, so Chat nodded at her to continue.

"And, I don't know, we drifted. The breakup was mutual, but it still hurt. I hid my feelings because we all -us especially" She waggled her fingers between them, giving him a knowing look. "-know what negative feelings lead to in this city. So a few months later, here we are, on the bed we used to cuddle in." Marinette's eyes started to water as her gaze fell.

Chat noticed, so he draped an arm around her shoulder. "If he didn't see your beauty, he isn't worth my Princess' time."

Marinette smiled, but due to her drunkenness, it just made her cry more. She turned to Chat's chest, cuddling into it. Chat stiffened for a moment, but then wrapped his arms around her and gently placed his chin onto her head. Seeing Marinette hurt like this brought about a strange feeling in his heart.

"I-I'm sorry, Chaton. I don't want to ruin your suit." She sniffled, pulling back. Her eyes were now covered with mascara smudges, though a lot of her makeup was now on Chat's suit.

"It cleans itself." He smiled. "Now, how about you get into bed, hm?" He suggested, rubbing his hand across her back for comfort. Marinette nodded and got up again.

Apparently she didn't care that Chat was in her room and began pulling up her t-shirt. Being a gentleman, Chat closed his eyes and turned away. She was drunk, and he would never use that to take advantage of her. He was here to make sure she got to sleep without any injuries. That was it. He already felt bad about her telling him so much, but he could tell she needed to get it off her chest. He'd just keep it to himself. When Marinette bounced back onto the bed, he turned to her but kept his eyes closed. "Are you dressed?"

"Yes, Chat." Marinette yawned through her words as she crawled under the blankets. Chat smiled at her. Her hair was down and it just made her look more cute. Marinette wiggled a finger to try and get him to come closer to him. He leant over cautiously.

She leant even closer, until he could feel her breath gently blowing his hair. She pushed a few strands to be able to whisper into his ear. "Don't-" She hiccupped. "Don't tell Chat, but.." She giggled. "I'm Ladybug."

Chat's pupils shrunk faster than light. His thoughts were incoherent even to himself, until some part of his brain decided that she was _drunk,_ she didn't know what she was saying. It couldn't be true, right? Ladybug cared too much about not revealing her identity that even drunk, she would be careful. After a moment, Marinette's voice brought him back to reality.

"Don't tell Chat!" She reminded him. The part Chat didn't hear, was her mumbling "I don't want to disappoint him."

Chat nodded at her, stood up, looked down at her. It was definitely time for him to leave. It wasn't fair for Marinette to be doing and saying things she probably wouldn't want to while sober. He still had a patrol to do, anyway.

"Goodnight, mon amour." He said, really, really hoping she wouldn't remember that when she woke up. He turned to leave the room, but felt a soft grip on his wrist.

"Stay." Marinette sleepily mumbled. "Come lie down. Just until I fall asleep?"

Chat turned to look at her and could see she was still hurt. This was not helping the feelings he tried to repress, but he'd feel awful leaving her to cry herself to sleep. He turned back around, which made a lazy smile form on Marinette's face. That made it worth it. He climbed onto the bed, laying down next to her on the side of the bed against the wall. Marinette turned to face her, and he could see she was almost asleep.

"Thank you for tonight." She said, seeming sober in that one moment of sincerity. That was ruined, though, when she placed her hand atop his head and scratched his scalp slightly.

"Anytime." He sighed contentedly.

She gave a happy hum in response, her eyes drifting to a close. Chat smiled slightly, decided not to bother trying to move right now, hoping not to wake her. What he didn't plan on, was the gentle movements of Marinette's tired fingers stroking through his hair lulling him into a deep sleep.

In his dreams, Marinette's face merged with Ladybug's until he wasn't able to point out any differences.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Was that a reveal? Wasn't it? I wonder!  
> Hope you liked it, next chapter will be the morning after.


	4. The Morning After.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A hungover Marinette wakes up to find a certain cat still on her bed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fluff ensues.

Marinette groaned as she awoke. She kept her eyes shut, afraid the light in the room would make the headache currently throbbing in her head worse. She was laid on the her bed with arms hanging off the side, so she decided to roll over and try to sleep again. She did it dramatically, her arms flopping in front of her to hit something. That made her eyes shoot open. Suddenly the throbbing in her head was not her only problem. She shrieked at the sight of Chat Noir curled up on her blankets. She shuffled around until she was sat up, as she watched his eyes open.

Adrien's first thought was that he had de-transformed when he heard Marinette shriek. But as his hands shot up to his face and felt a mask, he knew that wasn't the issue. Cue the sigh of relief. However, he still had the issue that he _fell asleep in a drunken Marinette's bed._   He quickly sat up as she did, staring at her flabbergasted face, trying to string together a sentence in his mind.

"Oh, god. Did you- did I- did we-?" Marinette asked, voice becoming so high pitched Chat was sure it made a dog bark outside.

"No, no, we didn't!" Chat rushed to say. "You were so drunk you almost got run over, I saved you and brought you back here. Then you asked me to stay. I didn't mean to fall asleep- I'm sorry." He was sure his cat ears were pressed tightly against his head, and he gave her a sincerely apologetic look. 

Marinette laughed a little at the sight of the drooped ears, which made Chat smile slightly. "Oh, good. Thank you, Chat, I hope I didn't cause you too much trouble." She rubbed the back of her neck.

"It was nothing, I promise. You talked to me a lot, though. I'm sorry to hear about the breakup."

A blush made it's way onto Marinette's cheeks. "What, uh... What else did I tell you?"

He decided not to mention the whole Ladybug thing, not wanting to embarrass her, or really think aboout it at all. "Nothing, really."

She sighed with relief. That didn't last long, though, when she felt her stomach churn, placing a hand over it. "I don't feel too good."

"Uh," Chat looked around the room, cursing the fact that Marinette's bedroom was in what essentially could be an attic. "Are your parents home?"

Marinette looked at the clock. "No, they'll be in the bakery."

Chat nodded. "Want me to get you a bucket and a glass of water?"

"And Painkillers, please." She didn't necessarily want to burden him anymore, but she knew that if she moved she would probably be sick on her bedroom carpet.

Chat nodded, hoping they had some cheese in the house, since he owed Plagg _a lot_ for keeping his transformation all night. He quietly snuck down into the rest of the house, hoping and praying that the bakery was busy enough to keep Marinette's parents there. As soon as the door to Marinette's room was shut, Adrien let himself de-transform. Plagg sighed as soon as he did so, followed by being shushed. They then went into the kitchen, searching in the kitchen for cheese. He passed it to Plagg, before reaching into his pocket. He placed down some money on the side, because he wasn't going to just steal from Marinette. He then went around and found a bucket, pain killers and got a glass of water while Plagg ate.

"Ready?" Adrien asked in a whisper.

Plagg just groaned, gulped down the remainder of cheese and nodded.

Adrien gave a smile and a hushed "Claws out!"

Chat once more, Adrien grabbed everything and headed back upstairs to Marinette. He smiled as he wandered over, passing the glass of water and packet of painkillers before he'd even sat down. She gave an appreciative smile and placed a pill in her mouth, washing it down with the water.

"I'm sorry to bother you so much, Chat." She traced her thumbs around the rim of the glass, looking at that instead of him.

"Hey, it's nothing, Princess." He placed his hand on her knee. "I'm a superhero for a reason, y'know."

Marinette allowed herself a small smile at that. "Yeah, to save Paris from Hawkmoth, not to spend you time on a hungover teenager."

"Well, when that teenager is you, it's all worth it for me."

She looked up at him shyly, smiling. "You dumb cat."

"Well, you let me sleep here. You know that makes cats come back." Chat laughed a little bit.

"I'll try and be sober next time." Her smile morphed into a smirk.

She then slowly got up, careful not to upset her stomach anymore. She walked over to the mirror resting on her desk, where she picked up her signature red hair ties. As Chat watched her pull her hair back and tie it up, from the back, he noticed even more how much she looked like his lady. The hairstyle. How hadn't he noticed that before? She even had the same strands flicking out at the back. He found himself staring at her with an adoring grin on his face. She turned back round, and he kept staring, completely spaced out. That caused Marinette to blush lightly, going back to sit down with him.

"So what exactly did I tell you about my breakup last night?"

"That you were upset about that Adrien kid, and realised that you had another admirer waiting, so got to know him. It was cool for 6 months, then you had a mutual breakup. But it doesn't seem mutual, since you got so upset."

Marinette sighed, placing her head in her hands. "Can I talk to you, kitty?"

Chat slid a bit closer to put a comforting arm around her shoulder. "Of course, Marinette."

Without lifting her head, she kept talking. "I liked Nathanael, I really did... But, I think I still might like Adrien." She cringed at her own words. "I feel guilty about it, like I led him on since I still have feelings for Adrien."

Chat froze, feeling something strange in his heart once again. Trying not to be suspicious, though, he spoke again."I think it's normal. Feelings don't just go away."

Apparently Plagg had had enough of this love fest, as Adrien's miraculous beeped at him. He sighed. "Sorry, Mari. That seems like my cue to leave."

Marinette looked up to him. "It's fine, I'm sure you have somewhere to be as yourself anyway. Thank you for everything, again."   
  
She leant over to hug him. His lips melted into a smile as he hugged her back, until his ring beeped at him again.

"Will you be back?" She asked softly as he stood up.

"You won't be able to keep me away." He smirked, climbing up to her rooftop, before looking down at her again. "By the way, Adrien is single." He winked, before hurrying off.

Marinette's face blushed harder than it ever had before.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you enjoyed it!!


	5. A Night to Remember.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> As the title says, this will be a night to remember for Marinette, and for Adrien in more ways than one.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Woo, 5th chapter! I am just writing and hoping for the best, so if you ever have any ideas or certain tropes you'd like to see in this fic, let me know in the comments! I hope you enjoy this chapter. <3

Marinette's face was redder than her Ladybug suit when Chat Noir left. She buried her face into her hands, dreading what she told him when drunk. Did she tell him she liked Adrien? What if he knew Adrien?  _What if he **told** Adrien she liked him!? _ Lost in her thoughts, she didn't notice that Tikki flew over to her and was fluttering by her face.

"You'll be as red as me in a minute!" She laughed. 

"Tikkiii." She laughed a little with her, else she thought she might cry. "Did you hear anything I told Chat last night?"

"I was asleep when you left, Mari." Tikki landed on her chosen's bed, looking up at her.

Marinette groaned. "How can I ever face him _or_ Adrien again?" 

When her phone went off, she cringed at the loud sound. ' _Adrien calling'_ lit up her phone. She squealed, shuffling back away from the phone. Tikki sighed, picking it up and flying over to her, pressing 'answer' and pressing it against her ear.

"I- uh, hey, Adrien!" She shyly took the phone from Tikki, who remained floating near her.

"Hey, Mari! I haven't seen any school friends in a while and I was wondering if you wanted to hang out today?"

Marinette bit back a squeal. "Sure! Where do you want to meet?"

Adrien gave the address of a local restaurant, Marinette agreed without hesitation, and the call was over.

She did freak out for a minute, wondering if Chat told him, and if that was the only reason he was calling. But then she realised that Chat had only left a few minutes ago, so there was surely no way he could've gotten to Adrien and told him all of it in that time. So, Adrien must be genuine. Besides, he mentioned school friends. It was probably a group meet up. Still, she was excited to get to hang out with him again. 

Freak out over, she rushed to the bathroom. She took a shower to wash away the array of smells from the night, brushed her teeth and pulled her hair back into a bun. After applying mascara, she ran back into her room to change. She was throwing clothes onto the floor, Tikki struggling to dodge them as she flew over to her.

"Calm down, Marinette! You'll look great in anything." Tikki made sure she was flying high enough to avoid having any more clothes thrown at her. "What about that dress you just made?"

Marinette's gaze turned to said dress. It was based off of Ladybug, being mostly red with an asymmetric skirt, black material underneath. She smiled, nodding at Tikki and rushing over to take it off of the mannequin and put it on. She looked at herself in the mirror, nodding and grabbing her phone. She snapped a picture, sending it to Alya with a message saying ' _Does this look okay?_ '

Alya replied in a few seconds with an excited message, expecting to be told all of the details after whatever she was dressing up for. Marinette smiled lightly, slipping on some black heels and shoving her phone and some cash in her purse. Tikki flew over, looking at Marinette expectedly.

"Tikki, I'm not sure that I'll need to be Ladybug. It's a hang out."

"You never know." She lowered herself to the purse, and Marinette sighed as she opened it up.

"I'll grab some cookies on the way out."

\------

When Marinette walked into the restaurant, Adrien was already there. He stood up, mouth agape. He felt as if the world went dark around then, his eyes focused only on her, watching as she wandered inside, spotting him as smiling. There was a slight blush on her face which just made her look adorable. He then smiled widely, heart racing as she walked over. Maybe he liked her more than he originally thought. He was frozen in place for a second, until he rushed around to the other side of the table to pull her seat out. 

"Thank you," Marinette said quietly with a smile. Adrien just returned the smile, pushing her chair back in once she sat down, sitting back in his own seat. 

So, it was just the two of them. Marinette didn't bother to ask if anyone else was coming, and it only hit her now how over dressed she'd be if it  _was_ just a hang out. But, she couldn't deny how glad she was that it was a date. It was only when Adrien spoke that she realised she'd zoned out a bit.

"Wow." He breathed, looking up at her. "You look amazing."

She blushed a little more, admiring how he looked in a suit. "So do you."

They ordered their food, and got lost in catching up with each other while they waited. Marinette could feel herself falling down that slippery slope of crushing on Adrien Agreste the same way she did years ago, from that moment he passed her the umbrella. Unlike some others in Paris, he didn't find his money or fame attractive, she found his kindness, the way he cared about everyone, attractive. Of course, his dashing good looks were an added bonus. As their food arrived, their conversation changed.

"So, do your parents still own the greatest bakery in all of Paris?" He asked, taking a sip of his water.

Marinette giggled slightly. "Yeah, they do. I work there if they need any help. I've picked up a few baking tips along the way, actually."

"Well, if you're anywhere near as amazing as they are -which I'm sure you are- you need to share your secrets."

Marinette looked down at her food. "I could do you one better. I could cook for you one night, if you want?" She shyly looked up again.

Adrien nodded without hesitation. "It's a date."

They spoke for a while, long after they both finished their meals. People came and left the restaurant, but neither of them seemed to care about anything around them. Their date was only interrupted by a loud crash coming from outside. Both of them immediately dropped conversation, looking to the source of the sound. An evil laughter could be heard next, and they feasted their eyes on another akumatised victim. They both sighed under their breaths, getting up from their seats.

"Marinette, you need to get to safety." Adrien rushed to her side.

"I, uh.." She looked around at the frantic crowds of people rushing for the front doors. "I'll head to the bathroom. You need to find somewhere safe too, okay?" She looked into his eyes with consideration.

Adrien nodded. "Sounds good. Stay safe!" He urged, wishing he could just stay with her instead.

Marinette sighed, vowing to try and check on him as Ladybug. Rushing into a stall, she opened up her purse, to see Tikki glancing up with a look that read 'I told you so.'

"Yeah, yeah. You were right." Marinette smiled slightly. "You always are. Spots on!"

***

Adrien rushed into a hiding place, ducking under a window, behind a table. He pulled open his suit jacket, looking at Plagg who was groaning. "Finally, away from that cringey love fest."

Adrien rolled his eyes. "Plagg, Claws out!"

Once transformed, he jumped up and out of the window, bouncing into the fight. "Hey!" He yelled at the akuma, who was dressed in a feathery dress representing a duck.

Chat had to laugh, dodging a hit from her "Who're you supposed to be?"

"I am le vilain petit canard! You will all see my beauty, or become like them!" She dramatically pointed sideways, where Chat saw the people who had fallen victim to her, with duck masks presumably attached to their faces, mindlessly acting as ducks would.

"Jeez. Irony and a really, really, strange power. Good combo." He grinned at her, looking around.

Ladybug swung down from a rooftop, landing next to Chat. "You're early today."

"I was close by," He responded, ducking another hit. He tried to get a look at her in the midst of the fight. Like usual, he was taken aback by her beauty and her skills. But today, it was different. Marinette's drunken comment came back into his mind, and then he noticed a crucial detail. Ladybug's hair was in a bun. His first thought was to brush it off as a coincidence, but then he realised that this and so many of the previous  _coincidences_ could have just been work of the magic protecting their identities. And now, it seemed to be wearing off for him. He tried not to let this ruin his concentration, shaking his head and getting back into the fight properly.

It was over relatively quickly, since they were accustomed to a fight sequence now. So he had time to pull on her arm before she bounced away again. "What is it, Chaton? I have a date to return to."

Chat faltered for a second. This is definitely too many coincidences for it not to be true. But he couldn't just give himself away, he knew how much she wanted to keep everything secretive. So, he put on a smile. "You look different tonight, M'lady. I like it."

She paused, before remembering she had changed her hair for the date, smiling. "Oh, yeah. I decided on a change. Thank you." Her miraculous beeped. "I should be on my way." 

Chat nodded, watching as she swung her yo-yo and took off. He took a slow walk back around the back of the restaurant, where he let his transformation go. Knowing he'd have some time while Marinette got back, he leant against the wall to attempt to process everything. _Marinette was Ladybug. Ladybug was Marinette_. The more he thought about it, though, the more he realised he shouldn't be surprised. They were both so amazing, so kind, so strong, and so beautiful. And he liked both of them so much. It stopped being such a scary though, now, a smile even appeared on his face. He slowly wandered back into the restaurant, ready to finish off his date with such an amazing girl.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Reveal or not? It's getting close to a reveal fic, whoops. I hope you don't mind. Again: akumas. THEY WILL BE THE DEATH OF ME. You have to think of a name, outfit, power, etc. I appreciate the amount of work you put into this show, Thomas. This one was rushed and is ridiculous, I apologise for it. But anyway, kudos and comments are always very appreciated, I hope you liked this chapter! <3


	6. Finally.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Adrien decides he hasn't quite seen enough of Marinette today.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The amount of hits this fic is receiving in such little time is really unbelievable, thank you all so much for the support! I would also like to say if you ever ventured into the comments, superwhotrasherlock123 is my irl friend, so that's why we act like we do (also go read her ml fic too woo). But feel free to join us in our trashiness, we are very approachable people I promise. Anyway! I hope you enjoy this chapter.

Marinette smiled for the entirety of her walk home, which was accompanied by Adrien for part of the way. They left each other with a hug, and Adrien placed a kiss on her cheek. She was still blushing by the time she got home. She wandered through the closed bakery and upstairs to her house. Her parents just smiled at her as she went up to her own room. There, she flopped down onto her bed, staring up at the ceiling as Tikki flew out of her purse.

"That went well, even with the akuma attack." She grinned.

Marinette nodded. "I think that was the best night of my life." Her voice was breathy and dreamy, still in a love induced haze.

The event kept repeating themselves in her mind, as she allowed herself to go through all the conversations she and Adrien had, sighing contentedly. Even with the interruption, their date was perfect by her standards. She sighed dreamily, thinking about how Adrien was smiling and glowing all night. His eyes looked even brighter against his black suit blazer. She rolled over on her bed, closing her eyes, letting her mind wander.

****

 

 

That night, Adrien dreamt once more of Marinette and Ladybug. This time, the merge felt even more real. There was no differences between them, and he was noticing the things he loved in Ladybug in Marinette, and vice versa. He woke up with a smile, and had thoughts of Marinette swirling round his head all day. He could hardly focus on all of the things Nathalie was telling him about his schedule, too busy in his forest of pining to care. 

 

The day passed by slowly, and when the sun was setting, Adrien was pacing around his room. He chewed on his lips and tapped his hands together, trying to busy himself from his thoughts. However, it didn't work and soon enough he sighed, stopping in his tracks and turning to face Plagg.

"I need to see her."

"You need to stop being such a teenager."

"Maybe in a couple of years." Adrien smirked. "Plagg, claws out!"

The run to her house managed to keep his mind off of things for a short while, and instead focused on which path he needs to be taking and how far he needed to jump. He always loved running as Chat, it gave him the kind of freedom he'd always wanted but was never able to have. That freedom was even better when you were a superhero with free running skills.

****

Marinette was already in her pyjamas, having had a busy day trying to finish working on a piece that someone commissioned. She was over by her mirror, brushing through her hair when she heard a knock on the skylight. Confused, she wandered over to it, and looked up to see Chat Noir. She grinned, climbing up the ladder to unlock and open the small door.

"Hey, Chat!" She smiled.

"Hey, Mari. Could I come in for a bit?"

Marinette nodded, stepping back down the ladder and laying down onto her bed. Chat followed her inside, closing the door behind him, and then climbing down the ladder and into her room. He stood for a minute, before slowly walking over to Marinette's bed, smiling at her as he sat down on the edge. He sighed a little, looking down at his glove clad hands. He shyly looked back up, having to admire how she looked with her hair down. It really did make her look even more cute, especially now she's sober and not slurring every word. Marinette pushed a few strands behind her ear, smiling at Chat, saying a lot without even opening her mouth. He responded to her unspoken words, slowly lying down next to her, a bit lower down the bed as she was just slightly sitting up.

"What's on your mind, Chat?"

"A lot." He shifted a bit to become comfortable.

Marinette looked down at him, gaze filled with consideration. "Wanna talk about it?"

He shrugged. "I'm not sure I could put it into words."

He wished he could. He wished he could just outright say 'I think you're Ladybug', but he knew that on the off chance that he was actually wrong it could get awkward, and not to mention Ladybug's urge to keep their identities secret. Without thinking, he began speaking again.

"Sometimes, I wish I could just tell Ladybug who I am. I hate that we have to keep it a secret. I understand the dangers that telling each other could bring but screw that, y'know? We've fought through a lot together, I don't think something as silly as _who we are_  should get in the way of that."

Marinette gave a small sigh. "Maybe.." She fiddled with her fingernails. "Maybe Ladybug just isn't ready yet. Maybe she doesn't want to disappoint you."

Chat spun around to lie on his stomach, propping himself up slightly so he could look at Marinette. "Disappoint me? She could never! I don't just love the _idea_ of her- of Ladybug, I'm not that shallow. I love the girl behind the mask. The girl who is beautifully strong and knows exactly what to do when there's trouble. She doesn't let anything stop her. I love _her._ "

Marinette's eyes filled with tears. Chat.. Chat loved her. She'd always thought being a flirt was just a part of his personality, she never realised that he truly loved her. Her mind didn't bother to think of the complications of her feelings for Adrien and whatever this was, because she was too flattered and surprised by his kind words."Oh, Chat."

Chat looked into her eyes, realising tears were clouding the sky blue of her irises. "Mari, I didn't mean to-" He was cut off by her arms wrapping around him in a hug.

"I'm sorry, I just didn't realise." She said as tears fell from her eyes.

Chat quirked an eyebrow, gently pushing her back from the hug. "Realise what?"

"How much you truly care for... For Ladybug." She sighed, heartbeat speeding up by the second. She couldn't believe she was doing this, but she didn't give it enough thought to change her mind. "But you're right, we.. Our identities don't have to be a secret. Tikki?"

The kwami flew over, giving a small wave to Chat. "I'm sorry I didn't tell you sooner." Marinette looked down.

Chat laughed a bit, making Marinette looked up with fear in her eyes. "No- no, I'm not laughing at you!" She sighed with relief. "Well, I kind of am. You... You told me you were Ladybug when you were drunk. I didn't know whether I should have believed you or not. I'm glad it's you, really, I am."

"But.. You don't even know me." Her voice was quiet. In the moment, she'd forgotten her anxieties of Chat being disappointed, and they were now coming back.

"Wanna bet?" He smirked playfully. "Plagg, claws in." 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> FINALLY. I decided it would be evil to keep the reveal from you guys any longer, but technically you'll still have to wait for Mari's reaction. I'll try to be quick with the next chapter. Also, my main tumblr is theredpaladn so hmu there, feel free to start a chat with me and also lemme know if you guys have anything you wanna see in this fic, because most of this is written on a whim anyways. I hope you liked it, and as usual comments and kudos' are very much appreciated!! <3


	7. The reveal.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Marinette finds out that Adrien is Chat Noir. Yeah.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WHOO here we are, and I have a little feeling that uploading this chapter will get me to 1,000 hits and I may actually implode when that happens. My only other fic with that many hits is an spn one, which took me a year to get to. This has been up for maybe 2 weeks (?), it's crazy to me. Thank you all again <3  
> Anyway, there's kind of maybe a bit too much dialogue in here but with a reveal, I guess it's expected. Hopefully. Don't hate me. Ily.

Marinette's eyes widened as she watched the green light take away the Chat costume she knew so well. She tightened her eyes closed as the light began to pass over his t-shirt. She didn't know if she wanted to know or not. Due to her closed eyes, she didn't see Adrien's mouth fall into a frown as he noticed that her eyes were closed.

"Mari... Look at me." She silently shook her head. "Please?"

Marinette sighed, before slowly opening one of her eyes. She squeaked, closing it again. "Did I just imagine that?"

Adrien offered a small, slightly awkward laugh. "I don't think so."

Marinette took a deep breath, opening both her eyes this time. "A-Adrien? _You're_ Chat Noir?"

Adrien's frown returned, confusion striking his face. "Yeah. Was that a bad reaction?"

She gasped a little. "No, no, definitely not!" She shook her head violently. "Wait." She thought back to the night she was drunk, and groaned. "Oh my god. I actually confessed my love for you.... to you."

Adrien smiled at her. At least she wasn't freaking out. Yet. He imagined if he gave it time, she might, but he tried not to think about that. He just focused on her right here and right now, not disappointed that it was him and not freaking out. "And I haven't talked about Ladybug to you?"

She gave a small laugh, which caused a small flutter in Adrien's heartbeat. "I guess that's true."

Marinette paused for a moment or two, pushing strands of hair behind her ear, picking at her fingernails, doing anything she could to occupy herself. Adrien was in her room. _On her bed._ It was very hard for her to not freak out right now. Her mind went back to the things he was just saying, and she spoke without looking at him, with a quiet voice. "Did you really mean that?"

Adrien quirked an eyebrow. "Mean what?"

"What you just said about La-... About, uh, me."

Adrien's smile grew. "Of course I did. I meant every word. I guess I was just too blind to realise, before, that the love of my life was sat behind me in class for all those years."

Marinette's heartbeat practically stopped. A blush crept it's way onto her otherwise pale cheeks and she just smiled at her bed. "I.. I love you too, Adrien. I have for a while."

Adrien leant over to place a kiss on her forehead. "I know. I'm sorry it took us so long to figure this out."

Marinette finally looked back up at him. "Fate works in funny ways, I guess."

Adrien opened his mouth to reply, but was cut off by a scream coming from outside. He grinned. "Duty calls."

He got off of her bed, and she followed suit. They stared at each other like the love struck teenagers they are for a few moments, before realising Paris was literally in danger outside.

"Tikki, Spots On!"

"Plagg, Claws Out!"

They had both transformed into their superhero alter egos, but nothing had changed between them. They began walking up to the hatch in Marinette's room, before she remembered her hair was down. "Hold on, Chat, I need to put my hair up."

He hummed in acknowledgement, turning around so he could look at her. He was practically mesmerised by how easily she picked up the strands of hairs and wrapped her signature red tie around it a few times. He was sure if she had done that more than the two times necessary, he would have been hypnotised. Luckily for him, she only wore her hair in pigtails. "Okay. I'm ready."

Chat graciously held out a glove clad hand. "Shall we, my Lady?"

Ladybug smiled, placing her hand atop his and let their fingers intertwine. "We shall."

They hopped out of Marinette's room and reluctantly had to let go of each others hands to be able to follow the sound of the scream using their different methods of transportation. It may have been late at night, they may have been tired, but they knew this battle would be easy, because they had each other and that was really all that mattered.

The battle was a quick one, the adrenaline and their uplift in mood had allowed them to work together even more seamlessly than usual, and they had located the akuma and purified it within no time. They finished the battle with their famous fist bump, accompanied by an in sync 'pound it!'

Marinette had already fallen into her Ladybug personality during the fight, and reached over to give Chat a scratch underneath the chin, forgetting that under the mask stood Adrien Agreste. He didn't seem to mind, in fact his smile beamed, so she just happily reciprocated.

"Should we head back, kitty?" She asked sweetly. It was late out, so there wasn't really any press to hear them or surround them asking for interviews.

Chat nodded with a playful smirk. "I'll race you."

Ladybug's eyes narrowed in an equally as playful manor. "You're so on." She then threw her yo-yo, which wrapped itself around a nearby chimney. She gave him a two finger salute, and jumped up, already almost out of sight by the time he could react.

He extended his baton, giving him a good jump, landing him close to her, but on a different side of the street. He grinned over at her, putting his parkour skills to the test, trying to find the quickest route the bakery. He realised she had an advantage, having to do this almost daily, but he didn't want to let that give her a win, so he quickly dropped down to all fours, giving him the extra speed he needed to catch up to her.

The two arrived on Marinette's balcony in a picture perfect tie. Chat did a shoulder roll before he stood up to allow himself to stop effectively. He then glanced over at Marinette with a smile. "I totally beat you."

"No way!"

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you enjoyed that! I touched on miraculous side effects there bc it's one of my fave headcanons don't judge me okay shh. Anyway, comments and kudos are -as always- much appreciated! And as always, if you have any idea at all that you'd like to see in this fic pls let me know I'm in exams season so my creativity is not too high right now. <3


	8. Meeting the parent.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Don't hate me.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Like, please, don't hate me. Whoops.

One month after they had found out each others identities, Marinette and Adrien started dating. Adrien had taken her to the Eiffel tower late one night after an akuma attack, having had booked them a night to stay inside the tower. Marinette was quite confused, until they walked into the room and she saw rose petals all over the bed and a bottle of wine laying atop it. To say Marinette got emotional as he asked her to be his girlfriend would be an understatement. They waited a little while until they then let Ladybug and Chat Noir be seen as a couple to avoid suspicion. They had dealt with a lot together after this, considering they had quite a few Adrien Agreste fangirl akumas on their hands after their relationship went public. And now Marinette was meeting Adrien's father for the first time as Adrien's girlfriend. She was quite nervous about it, considering who he was. She was currently throwing clothes out of her wardrobe, Adrien on a Skype call.

 

"Mari, whatever you wear- you'll look great and my father will love you." He said, staring at her with a soft gaze though she wasn't looking at him.

 

"But I need to wear something... fashionable. Your dad _is_ a fashion designer, Adrien."

 

He laughed a little. "Why don't you wear something you've made, then?"

 

Marinette paused. Why was it that she never thought of this? She squealed slightly, rushing over to her separate clothing rail which consisted of her own making. She decided on something quite simple, a pale blue dress she made a couple of weeks back, with a white ribbon around the middle. She held it over her body and walked in front of the camera. Adrien's eyes widened.

 

"It looks beautiful, princess."

 

She blushed a little, and then went out of the camera's view again to change. She then pulled out her hair ties, leaving it in loose waves, tucking one half behind her ear. She rushed over to her desk and re-applied her mascara and added lipstick. She went over to the camera once more. "Alright, I'm going to leave now. I'll see you soon, Chaton."

 

Adrien gave her another smile, waving at her as he disconnected the call. Marinette paired the dress with some white heels, grabbed her purse, letting Tikki hide in there with some cookies, and then headed downstairs, calling out to her parents. "I'm leaving now!"

 

Her parents rushed over to her before she managed to get out of the door. They both cooed at her.

 

 "You look beautiful, Marinette, I'm sure Gabriel will love you." Sabine said softly.

 

Marinette walked back over to place a kiss on both of her parent's cheeks. "Thank you, mama. I should leave now, else I'll be late."

 

They nodded, waving her off as she left the bakery. She then called over a cab, directing it to the Agreste house. The driver, intrigued, engaged in small talk with her about it, and Marinette happily spoke with him until they reached the house. She tipped him, and then headed out towards the gate. She pressed the buzzer, and was let in pretty much immediately. She looked around in awe as she entered the front doors where Adrien was waiting for her. The house had barely changed, but still felt quite different to her. Gabriel then descended down the stairs, keeping his exterior as it usually was.

 

"Hello, Marinette. It's nice to see you again." He deadpanned.

 

"Hi, sir!" Marinette said in a slightly high pitched voice. "Thank you for inviting me over for dinner."

 

He simply nodded. "Adrien will direct you to the dinning room, and I will be joining you shortly."

 

Adrien then took Marinette's hand, and they began the walk to the dinning room. They sat down next to each other. "I think father likes you."

 

She sighed a little. "How can you tell?"

 

Adrien gave a small laugh. "Years of practice, bugaboo."

 

She gave a smile then, but it dropped slightly as Gabriel walked back into the room, sitting down at his chair. "I must say, Marinette, that is a nice dress you're wearing."

 

Her smile grew once more, glancing at Adrien who grinned at her, and then she looked back to Gabriel. "Thank you! I made It myself."

 

He nodded a little. "Your fashion skills have certainly be evolving over the years."

 

She flushed. "Thank you, Mr. Agreste."

 

They ate dinner in almost silence, with the occasional moment of small talk here and there, mostly attempted by Adrien who didn't want Marinette to feel uncomfortable. After they finished eating, Adrien excused them so they could head up to his room. Marinette's eyes widened at how the room had changed. Most of the things from a few years ago were gone, and it was now a very stylish and minimalistic looking room.

 

"Your room is very stylish, Adrien." Marinette commented as she walked inside.

 

"I'm glad you like it, princess."

 

The two spent a while chatting, playing video games (Marinette crushed him, despite what he might say) and even engaged in some dancing. After Marinette yawned, they realised it had gotten quite late. 

 

"I should head home," Marinette said reluctantly. "I'm on patrol tomorrow, I don't want to be tired for it."

 

Adrien nodded, standing up as she did. "Alright, lovebug." He pressed a kiss onto her lips. "I'll speak to you tomorrow." 

 

Marinette nodded. "Tikki, spots on."

 

Marinette reached over to hug Adrien, before giving him a kiss. "Bye, chaton."

 

She smiled, running over to his open window and throwing out her yo-yo. She blindly trusted Tikki and her own skills when using her yo-yo as a method of transportation, since it is magical. So after running over a rooftop, she was able to just throw it out without a care in the World. Until said yo-yo was grabbed by someone, and she was sent flying over in that direction, instead of the way she was aiming to go. She yelled out, before the yo-yo string was yanked down violently and she landed forcefully onto a rooftop and the world went black around her.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I would like to begin by apologising for that. But also, comments (yes, even angry ones; i understand) and kudos are appreciated as usual! Thank you for reading, sorry for the pain I'll be causing. <3


	9. Panic Signal.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Adrien finds out that Marinette is missing.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I feel like you all hate me, and I also feel like I kinda hate me for this too. (Small mention of blood in this chapter, if I include anymore violence i will change the warnings)

Adrien awoke the next morning, and as he looked at the time he realised it would be about now that Marinette would be patrolling. He still had time until he'd be expected for breakfast, so he stretched a little and decided to join her. When he got out of his bed, he called over to Plagg, but he was already awake pacing around the room.

 

"Adrien, you're awake!" He didn't have his usual sarcastic demeanour, which confused Adrien a little.

 

"Yeah, claws-"

 

"No! Not yet!" Plagg called out, and Adrien noticed something in his voice- _fear?_  


 

"Plagg..? Are you okay?"

 

Plagg shook his head, flying closer to Adrien. "It's Tikki. She's sending me a panic signal."

 

Adrien's heart sunk to his stomach. "W-What does that mean?"

 

Plagg decided not to answer that question truthfully. "We can go and find out, okay?"

 

Adrien nodded slowly, trying to ignore the lump in his throat. "Okay. Plagg, claws out."

 

As soon as the transformation had washed over him he was running towards his window, pushing it open and recklessly jumping out, extending his baton once he was out of his room. He was running faster than ever before, ignoring the burning feeling in his limbs. Marinette could be hurt, and he needed to find her. He did a quick search of Paris, mainly of the rooftops as he knew she left as Ladybug last night. Not finding her, the panic grew stronger and his whole body was throbbing with exhaustion. He didn't give up, though, and ran to her house, landing on the balcony rooftop. He was quick to pound on the hatch with his glove clad hands on the little window. When he got no reply and couldn't see her in the room, he fell to his knees on the balcony. He covered his head with his hands, letting a few tears slip from his eyes. It only took him a few seconds to remember that crying would not solve anything, so he quickly jumped down from the rooftop and ran around to the nearest alleyway, losing his transformation. He let Plagg flutter under his jacket and then ran to the front of the bakery, panting slightly. He pushed the door open with more force than necessary, looking around in a last hope that he'd see her here. Sabine and Tom then came over to him.

 

"Adrien, where's Marinette?" Sabine asked with a smile. They seemed happy.

 

He just got sadder. He could hardly speak, his voice was hoarse when he did. "She.. She didn't come home last night?"

 

Her parent's faces fell. When Sabine fell silent, Tom took over. "We assumed she stopped with you."

 

He shook his head, unable to think. He couldn't rationalise anything right now, and ran straight back out of the shop. He knew he'd feel bad for saying that and running later, but right now he had something he needed to do. He mumbled an apology to Plagg, ducking into the alleyway again and transforming. His mind in panic mode, he had a rash plan. He headed to Alya's house, banging on the door probably too loudly for a Saturday morning. Luckily, it was Alya who opened the door, and a grin formed on her face.

 

"Chat Noir! To what do I owe the pleasure?"

 

"I.. I need you to go live on the Ladyblog."

 

Alya raised a brow. "What? Why?"

 

Although he didn't think it was possible, he felt even sadder having to say this. "Ladybug... She's missing. I need to make an announcement about it."

 

Alya took in a large gasp, and her own eyes filled with tears. "I, uh, sure. Come in, Chat."

 

Chat nodded, walking into her house as she stepped aside for him. "Um.. Go and sit down, I'll grab my.. My phone."

 

Chat noticed that she seemed just as upset as he did as he went to sit down. When she returned, she sat down next to him. She pulled up the Ladyblog on her phone, positioning the camera in front of her face, pressing the 'live button'. She was no where near as enthusiastic as usual.

 

"Hey, guys.. Uh, I have someone here with me but, it's really not under great circumstances. I urge you all to stay calm, please." She then turned to camera to face Chat.

 

"H-Hello." Chat began, clearing his throat. "Ladybug is, uh, she's missing. And I can only assume she was abducted. The last place I spoke to her was when she was nearing the Agreste household, so if you were around that area at about 11pm last night, and think you have any useful information, please post it to the Ladyblog where I will be able to see it. I would like to remind you to please stay calm, I'm sure she's fine, and that I am already trying to find her. I am still a superhero so please let me do my job and save her as well as trying to keep you all safe, so don't put yourself in any danger trying to find her yourself, I've got this. Thank you all."

 

Alya then ended the broadcast, putting her phone down. She looked as sad as Chat did. The silence that filled the space between them was deafening, until it was broken. Chat's baton began beeping, and his eyes lit up. There was only one person that could contact him this way. Alya also looked like this gave her an ounce of hope, eyes trained on the baton as Chat took it from his belt. He took a deep breath in, sliding up the top of the baton.

 

"Ladybu-" His heart fell again. The image that appeared on his baton make him feel sick to his stomach. She was laying on the ground, unconscious, blood dripping down the side of her face. He had to try very hard to think as he was looking at this sight, but finally, whether or not Plagg gave him a mental push he wasn't sure, he realised. He could track her location now. A smile grew on his face.

 

"Chat, why are you smiling?" Alya asked with caution, her eyes misted with tears.

 

"Her location." He stood up quickly, still smiling as he tapped a few things on his baton and suddenly a little Ladybug appeared on a map.

 

Alya's mouth quirked into a smile, too. "Go get her, Chat! Keep me updated!"

 

Chat nodded quickly before running out of her house, the location in mind as he began his route there. _Just hold on, Marinette, I'm coming._ He thought to himself over and over again. 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Whoo, Alya makes return! Also you should all know that when I thought of this plot twist, i said 'im the worst person ever' out loud. Anyway, comments and kudos are appreciated as usual! <3


	10. Chat who?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Adrien finds Marinette.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The ideas are just flowing so I'm giving you another update, though you might not want it after you read it. I apologise. Like, so much.

Adrien's body was screaming at him when he reached the location signalled to him on his map. He paused as he landed on the rooftop. He paced about for a few minutes, trying to clear the clouding of his mind to come up with at least a slightly sensible plan. He wanted to run in and grab Marinette, but he realised that someone who went to the trouble of kidnapping her would know that he would be coming too. He spotted a window that was high up, perhaps the element of surprise would give him a chance. He sighed. He needed Marinette. She was always the one to have the plans that saved them. He shook his head. She needed him right now,  _he_ had to come up with the plan. Her life was on the line. He felt anger bubbling up inside. Well, he did have a cataclysm... He _could_ use that if the plan went awry. If, you know, he had a plan. His mind now realised that he was wasting precious minutes that he could be saving her in. He sighed, walking back to the edge of the roof and extending his baton, lowering himself so that only the top of his head was showing, cat ears drooping against his head. He narrowed his eyes since they were so bright, and glanced around the room. He couldn't see her in here. He dug a nail under the window ledge to push the lock, and then quietly pushed open the window. He climbed inside, and then brought his baton back to it's small size and closed the window. Wandering inside, he glanced around the room once more and took a few steps inside. It seemed.. too quiet. He didn't like it in the slightest. He continued to walk through the room, taking glances around as he could. It was an empty room, open brick walls eroding around him, the floor covered in dust. There was little light in the room, but he didn't have to worry about that thanks to his night vision. It took a minute to walk through the large room before deciding no one was in here. It did seem to be a big building, so he figured he'd have to investigate many more rooms.

 

He walked into the corridor, cursing the boots on his costume. His first step made a clinking noise as his boot connected with the cold concrete floor. He closed his eyes for a second, but when the area remained silent, he continued on. He took each step with more caution than the last, determined to keep his element of surprise, well, surprising. He spotted the next door, and luckily, there wasn't actually a door stood in the frame, it was more like a hole in the wall. So he took a few quick glances up and down the corridor, tightening his grip on his baton as he stepped closer to the door. His heart beat was racing, and his breathing quickening as he reached the frame. He took a step inside, and as this room had no lights or windows, it took him a second for his eyes to adjust into night vision. And there he saw her, still laying on the ground, helpless... Lifeless. All ideas of plans and rational thinking went out of the window as he saw the love of his life laying on the floor, bleeding, just a metre away. He got ready to speed forewords, and managed a total of two steps before his 'tail' was being yanked on. He stumbled in his step as he struggled against the grip. He didn't even care that this was probably the captors plan, he cared about the fact that Marinette was _right there._ He finally gave in, eyes narrowing as he turned to face the villain, ignoring the part of his mind that feared Marinette would disappear if he wasn't looking at her.

 

"What have you done to her?" He yelled angrily, voice echoing around the bare walls.

 

Adrien's eyes widened as he caught sight of who was in front of him... Hawkmoth, himself. Right here. Right in front him. Just one step, one call of his cataclysm and he could... He shook his head. He wasn't a killer.

 

"Now, now, Adrien." Hawkmoth began, and Adrien's heart dropped to his stomach. "If you would ever like to see precious  _Marinette_ 's eyes open again, you should calm down."

 

Adrien couldn't speak. He was, literally, petrified. Hawkmoth.. He knew who they were. He had all control. He was using Adrien's weakness' against him and.. And he fell for it. He tried not to let it show, though he was quite sure Hawkmoth already knew. "What. Have. You. Done?" His voice was practically a growl.

 

Hawkmoth just laughed. "Oh, wait, did I say you had a chance of seeing Marinette's eyes open again? Sorry, that was a little white lie."

 

That was it. Tears filled up in Adrien's eyes. His fists were clenched, oh so ready to kill Hawkmoth. His emotions were flying, _and.. Wait.. Was that... An... Akuma? No, no this wasn't possible, Plagg **told** him that he couldn't be akumatised. But.. That was before... Before this. _  


 

Adrien's thoughts were buzzing, unable to control his emotions despite his fight against them. He watched as the white butterfly turned a deep purple and black, and tried to back away from Hawkmoth, away from the akuma. It started flying towards him, slowly, as if it were mocking him. He tried to run against Hawkmoth's grip, and as if he planned for this, he let go, leaving Adrien stumbling in front of Marinette, letting her body to be the last thing he saw, a tear falling onto her blood-stained cheek as the butterfly flew into the bell on his suit. Hawkmoth didn't even need to talk to Adrien, his emotions had already been tainted. As the purple glow covered his suit, it turned into a bright white colour, the green in his eyes becoming yellow, the edges of his mask becoming sharper.

 

"Hello, Chat Blanc."

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WHOOPS DONT HUNT ME DOWN PLEASE. Let me begin by saying: I'm actually a firm believer that Adrien or Marinette cannot be akumatised. However, in a situation where one of them died.... (But, to ease your pain, know that I tag things in my fics correctly, always...) 
> 
> Anyway, though you probably all despise me now, comments and kudos are appreciated!<3


	11. Oh, right. Chat Blanc.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Can Adrien fight the akumatisation?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So many updates. I just have so many ideas for this new plot twist. I hope you enjoy this angsty chapter! (Warning for slight violence again, if you think this chapter warrants a tag lemme know in the comments please)

  
~~Adrien~~ Chat Blanc's mouth twisted into a smile. He crouched down in front of Marinette, taking in her limp form for a minute. He brushed away a strand of her hair with his claw, which was probably more Hawkmoth than himself, as his eyes became trained on her earring. From the other side of the room, Hawkmoth's voice could be heard again, the grin on his face evident through his tone.

 

"Chat, her miraculous."

 

Chat's hand moved to her ear, but then Marinette took a deep breath in, and her stunning blue eyes opened just to meet yellow. Her mouth fell agape as she realised it was her partner, her best friend, her  _boyfriend_ she was looking at and she caught sight of Chat's new attire. Though she felt weakened, she managed to push her hands on the ground and scramble backwards against the wall, sobbing, not even able to think properly. She closed her eyes, not wanting to look at the monster Hawkmoth had made of Adrien. Her tears kept falling, breaths hitched, shaking her head repeatedly, hoping this was all a nightmare. Adrien froze. Some small, hidden part of his brain told him that was Marinette; amazing, kind, precious, _hurt_ Marinette he had backed against the wall. He grumbled under his breath.

 

" _Chat."_ Hawkmoth's voice was stricter this time.

 

"Yes, Hawkmoth. The miraculous." He edged closer to Marinette, reaching out his hand. And then smiled. And then.. Threw his baton backwards with full force, letting it hit Hawkmoth in the stomach, sending him flying backwards.

 

Marinette's eyes opened as he heard Hawkmoth's grunt, and then widened as she saw what happened. She was still frozen, watching him as he let his smile soften. As Hawkmoth got up, so did Chat, turning around to face him, taking a few slow steps in his direction.

 

"You know, if I would have known how much extra power this gave me," He began, examining his hand, before glaring up at Hawkmoth. "I would have done this _years_ ago."

 

He then ran at Hawkmoth, jumping up and kicking him with more power than he ever had before, spinning in the air and then punching Hawkmoth as he landed back on the floor in his battle stance. As Hawkmoth stumbled and fell to the ground, Chat moved to stand over him. He lips curled into a sinister grin. He moved slowly, mockingly, placing his boot just above his chest. "Thank you, Hawkmoth, truly. Because now, I can rip you to shreds."

 

Hawkmoth stared back up at him, before turning his head to spit blood out of his mouth. Chat then placed his foot down to connect with his chest, applying pressure. Marinette watched the scene unfold, and couldn't help but feel... fearful. Adrien had been akumatised, he wasn't thinking straight right now, he had been corrupted by evil, but her mind just saw him attacking someone else. She watched as his boot pressed down against Hawkmoth's chest and although he was the villain, she couldn't help but think he was feeling the same amount of fear as she was. It hurt her heart to see Adrien acting like this, since she knew he was kind hearted but seeing him like this was just heart breaking. Her thoughts had distracted her from what was going on, and as she focused on what was happening, her breathing almost halted.

 

Chat Blanc had kicked Hawkmoth in the face, and had stepped back just slightly, waiting for him to get back up. Hawkmoth didn't even seem to be attempting to fight back.

 

 "I've been waiting for this day." He growled, and Marinette wasn't sure she recognised his voice. She watched as his gaze averted to his hand, and as he opened his mouth to speak, she realised he was about to call his cataclysm.

 

"C-Chat! Stop!" She yelled, voice hoarse.

 

His mouth fell closed, her heart beat sped up. He slowly turned his head towards her. Her voice... It pulled him back, allowed him to take back control of his mind. He looked at what he was doing, looked at her, looked at the tears flowing down her face. He took cautious steps closer to her, and felt his heart ache as he noticed her fear as he did so. He paused as he reached her, sitting down in front of her, putting his hands down on the ground in the space between his crossed legs, trying to show her he meant no harm. He smiled, a soft, warm smile, which contrasted to the way he looked right now. Marinette was still crying, her whole body stiff as she looked at him. He bowed his head slightly, pulling the bell from his suit, placing it down in front of her, and then crushed it underneath his hand. He didn't look at her as the akuma flew out. Marinette looked confused for a second, but grabbed her yo-yo, purifying the akuma without saying a word. Chat sighed, closing his eyes as the purple glow faded over him again, staying completely still as not to scare Marinette anymore than he already had. After a few seconds that felt like hours, Marinette leaned forwards and wrapped her arms around him. His eyes shot open, breathing stopping for second. He remained still, however; in case Marinette was still shaken up. She then pulled back, standing up. He glanced up at her, before remembering Hawkmoth was still in the room. He took in a deep breath, before standing up next to her. They began walking towards him, Chat spinning his baton, Ladybug spinning her yo-yo.

 

Hawkmoth gave a small chuckle, seemingly unfazed about the fact that his plan didn't work. This worried Ladybug and Chat, though neither of them admitted it or let it show. He simply stood tall, showing his power through his stance.

 

"Adrien... Do you _really_ want to fight your father?"

 

Adrien paused. He wasn't sure if he let that information sink in yet but it still effected him. His baton fell from his hand, creating a clinking noise as it bounced off of the concrete. Marinette brought her yo-yo to a stop, looking at Adrien with a caring glance before turning back to Hawkmoth with a glare.

 

"If you don't leave in the next 2 seconds, I _will_ kill you." Marinette grumbled in such a tone that made her usual happy demeanour seem actually evil.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, listen. Gabriel and Hawkmoth have the same voice actor, so, fight me. But also, if you are one of those who do not think it's Gabriel, then please stick around, usually I wouldn't do something controversial but I love me some angst and that's pretty much the purpose it serves, as did Chat Blanc. It's becoming an angst fest and I need fuel for it, so, yeah. 
> 
> As always, comments and kudos are very much appreciated!<3


	12. The aftermath.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Can Marinette and Adrien get through this turn of events?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And just when I thought I was sorting out my description to dialogue ratio, I do this.

Marinette laughed in a rather sinister way. "1.." She took a step towards him. "2." She started spinning her yo-yo once more, very angrily, swinging it towards him, screaming out, mirroring the way she acted the first time she kind of saw him as a collection of moths. But this time, it was really him, and the sheer force of her swings led the string to slice open his skin. Hissing out in pain, he ran towards the door, leaving the building. The colour fell from Marinette's face as she realised what she had just done. She let her yo-yo fall to the floor, as Chat's baton had just moments ago, and the two superheroes were left standing in an awkward silence, not knowing quite what to make of the situation. Chat's eyes began welling with tears now, as he allowed himself to realise the truth of what this all meant. He let out a choked sob, before falling to his knees, hands reaching up to cover his face as his cries echoed around the walls of the room. Marinette's heart broke as she heard him cry. Any fear that she had of him from earlier melted away at the sound of his tears as she figured out why he was akumatised in the first place. He probably thought she had died. She slowly turned around to face him, looking at him with a caring gaze. She wasn't sure if there was any way she could help him right now, after everything that just happened, but she was determined to try. She stepped closer to him, slowly kneeling down.

"Oh, Chaton..." She said softly, gently reaching out her hand to stroke his hair.

Chat didn't look up at her, but his cries did soften. He was quiet for a few minutes before he spoke again. "I-I'm sorry."

She frowned, moving a little closer to wrap an arm around him. "It's not your fault."

In one swift move, he wrapped his arms around her and buried his face into her shoulder. She sighed, moving her arms to wrap around his waist, kissing the top of his head. The two sat like that for a few minutes, the only noise in the room being Adrien's soft cries, which were followed by Marinette trying to soothe him. He knew most 18 year olds would feel kind of embarrassed crying on their girlfriend's shoulder like this, but he knew that she completely understood, and was probably only staying calm for his benefit. After around five minutes, Adrien spoke quietly.

"Can.. Can we go home?"

Marinette gave a saddened smile. "My house?"

Adrien nodded a little. "It's the only home I have."

Ignoring the fuzzy feeling in her chest, Marinette stood up, guiding Adrien up with her. His legs felt like jelly, so he was pretty much leaning on her for stability. They slowly walked out of the room and towards the exit, deciding on de-transforming as they did, so that there was no way they'd all get bombarded with press or fans, since right now, they only wanted to be around each other. The walk home was quiet, Marinette leaving her arm around Adrien as he pretty much hugged her side for the entire walk home. As they reached the bakery, Marinette prepared herself for her parents, since she hadn't been home or told them where she was. She had believed they would be mad, but they walked over and wrapped the two of them in a hug. Marinette froze slightly, her eyes widening.

"Marinette!" Her mother pulled back from the hug to notice the dried blood on her face. "What happened to you?"

Marinette looked at Adrien who shot her an apologetic glance, but she smiled, understanding his concern for her. "I'll... Explain everything properly later, I promise. But right now I'm just going to take Adrien upstairs."

Tom and Sabine immediately averted their gaze to Adrien, Tom being the first to notice his red, puffy eyes. "What's wrong, son?"

Obviously not knowing what had happened, Tom looked confused when that just made Adrien tear up a little more. Marinette tried not to scold her father. "Give us a minute, papa."

Her parents nodded, and the two began walking upstairs into the house, then heading straight to Marinette's room, laying down on the bed. Adrien sighed, closing his eyes, feeling slightly embarrassed about everything that had happened now. Marinette placed a small kiss on his forehead.

"I think I may have to come clean to my parents.." She said quietly. "I'm not sure how else I can explain all of this."

Adrien gave a small nod, leaving his eyes closed. Marinette frowned again, really hating seeing him like this. "Do you want to come with me or stay here?"

Adrien stayed quiet for a second. "Can I.. Stay here?" His voice was quiet.

Marinette nodded, before realising he wouldn't see. "Of course, chaton. I'll be back soon, okay?"

She gently ran her hand through his hair once more before sliding off of the bed, taking in a deep breath and heading downstairs to face her parents again. They had already headed upstairs into the actual house after locking up the shop, and were waiting for her on the sofa. She gave a small smile, walking over to sit in between them. She sighed heavily, not really knowing where to start with this. She opened her mouth to speak, but shut it again to think more about how she was going to go about this.

"Okay... I need you to promise to not get mad at me." She said, looking down.

Sabine placed her hands over her daughters. "We won't." She said softly.

"Alright.. Uh, this is kind of a big thing.. And.. I'm sorry for not telling you earlier, but I had to make sure you'd be safe but now I don't even know if I can keep myself safe and I just want you to-" She sighed again when she realise she had started speaking too quickly.

She didn't look up for a few minutes, missing the exchange of worried glances between her parents. "I'm Ladybug."

They both gasped. She closed her eyes, scrunching up her face. "As in.. _The_ Ladybug?" Tom asked.

Marinette nodded. "And Adrien is Chat Noir."

Her parents stayed silent for a few minutes more, before wrapping her in a hug. She looked up, confusion taking over her expression. "You.. Aren't mad?"

"Upset you didn't tell us before, yes." Sabine started, tone soft. "But we understand why. You are an amazing person, Marinette."

Marinette smiled, but it fell again when she remembered why she needed to tell them this. "And.. As you know, Hawkmoth is the reason Paris needs superheroes. He was.. The one who, uh, who kidnapped me last night."

Ignoring her parents gasps, she continued. "And lured Adrien to my location, akumatising him by telling him I was dead.." She sighed quietly. "But! He didn't attack me, actually, he was able to fight the control and went after Hawkmoth. But it got out of hand and when I brought him back, Hawkmoth kind of.. Told us his identity.."

Tom raised an eyebrow. "Isn't that a good thing?"

Marinette shook her head. "He.. Knows ours too. And he told us.. He is Gabriel. Gabriel Agreste."

Sabine made a noise of sadness. "So that's why Adrien-"

Marinette nodded. "Yeah. But we're hoping that he won't go public with who we are, since we could do the same now."

Her parents nodded, and Tom began to speak. "Thank you for telling us this, Marinette. And know that we are here for you both whenever you need us, whatever you need us for. And tell Adrien he's welcome here whenever, even if that does mean he moves in."

Marinette smiled. "Thank you, papa."

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you enjoyed this chapter! Sorry it didn't focus so much on Adrien, I'll be sure to give cat son extra love next chapter. As always, comments and kudos are very much appreciated!<3


	13. Home.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Basically just Adrien angst. Enjoy.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Welcome aboard the angst train, I hope you enjoy your journey.

Marinette spoke with her parents for a few minutes more, before heading into the kitchen. There she prepared two mugs of hot chocolate, complete with cream on top, and cooked some croissants. She put them onto a plate, balanced that on her arm and grabbed the mugs. Carefully, she headed back upstairs to Adrien, smiling at him. He looked over at he heard noise, and for the first time since the incident, smiled. She went to the bed, and placed the mugs on the floor while she put the plate on the bed. Adrien sat up, and Marinette passed him his mug and then grabbed her own.

"Are you feeling any better?" She asked quietly.

"I am now." His voice was at a similar volume, as he licked a bit of cream from the top of his mug. Marinette laughed a little.

"You looked _just_  like a cat then."

Adrien laughed with her, which made Marinette smile widely. "I'm glad you're laughing again." 

They sat and ate the croissants, staying quiet for a while with the exception of  Marinette trying to entertain and distract Adrien the best she could. He was still upset, but Marinette didn't really expect for him to be fully happy for a while, but she did know she was going to remain by his side for the whole thing. Around an hour later, Adrien yawned, his eyes drooping.

"Tired, kitty?" Marinette asked softly, which was met with a nod.

Marinette reciprocated the nod, grabbing the empty mugs and plate, moving them onto her beside table for now, before going back over to the bed, laying down, Adrien following suit. Marinette then grabbed a blanket, pulling it over the two, and rolling onto her side to face him.

"Will your parents be okay with me sleeping here?" Adrien asked sleepily.

Marinette smiled. "My dad said you could move in."

Adrien allowed himself a small smile at that, eyes falling to a close. He then curled up against Marinette, nuzzling his face against her shoulder. Marinette smiled down at him, gently beginning to stroke through his hair, feeling him relax under her hand. Laying like this, she began to feel tired herself allowing her eyes to droop a little.

"Sleep well, chaton." She mumbled, before falling asleep herself.

They both awoke at the sound of Adrien's phone ringing. Marinette groaned, keeping her eyes shut, but Adrien blinked away his sleep and pulled his phone out of his pocket. He sat up quickly as he read who was calling, and the sudden movement made Marinette open an eye. "Adrien?"

Adrien didn't speak, just moved the phone so that Marinette could see the name 'Nathalie' on the screen. Marinette sat up. "I'm sure she doesn't know anything, Adrien. You should answer it. She's probably just worried about you."

Adrien nodded with a sigh, and then pressed answer, moving the phone towards his ear. "Hello?"

They spoke on the phone for about a minute, Marinette nervously twiddling her thumbs as they did so. When Adrien put down the phone, Marinette looked at him expectantly. Adrien was quiet for a second.

"Fa-Gabriel wants me to collect my things." Marinette's eyes widened as he spoke, not saying anything but pulling him into a hug. Adrien wrapped his arms around her tightly, closing his eyes to avoid tearing up.

Marinette rubbed her hand along his back in soothing circles, feeling him relax as she did so. "I think my dad was serious, you know." She mumbled quietly.

Adrien sighed. "Your parents are the greatest."

She nodded, giving a small laugh. "That they are. Should we go down and explain?" She asked softly.

He paused, before nodding. "We probably should."

The two then headed downstairs, and unsurprisingly, her parents were waiting for them, and Marinette realised they probably heard them talk. They both came over, wrapping the two in a hug. Marinette shot them a smile, before also wrapping her arms around Adrien. He froze at the gesture, but eventually relaxed, sighing happily.

"I'm sorry to be a burden." He mumbled, and Tom shook his head.

"You're part of the family now, son. You're never a burden to us."

Adrien smiled at that. "Thank you."

Sabine smiled at him. "Not that we meant to eavesdrop," Marinette groaned at that, which made Adrien laugh slightly. "But we heard what's happened. You can stay with us for as long as you need."

Adrien nodded. "Thank you, really. It means a lot."

"We wouldn't be good people if we let Paris' superhero live on the streets, now would we?" Tom gave a hearty laugh, Adrien joining in.

"I guess not."

Sabine and Tom then realised the hug, Marinette reluctantly following suit. They had another conversation, before Marinette and Adrien decided to head over to Agreste mansion. Adrien seemed very nervous about it, so Marinette took his hand and gave it a reassuring squeeze, looking up at him with a gentle smile. As they headed inside, as they expected, they were not met by Gabriel but by a confused looking Nathalie. Adrien just shrugged.

"It's complicated." He supplied, and she gave a nod.

"Most of your bags have been packed for you, and your father has left you some money. It's all in your room upstairs, and a driver will be taking you -I presume- to Marinette's house in a few minutes." She gave him a smile, which was probably one of the only times she had.

Adrien gave her his thanks, before walking upstairs with Marinette, looking around the room. He sighed, noticing that it was now mostly empty, apart from the suitcases laid on his bed. He looked around the room, and in his drawers for something he could have missed. He came across a framed photo of his mother and paused, sighing.

"I wish she was still here right now.." He mumbled, mostly to himself. Marinette put her hand on her heart, trying hard not to coo.

Adrien held the photo tightly, before taking it over and putting it into one of his suitcases. He then grabbed two, and Marinette grabbed the last one, and they headed back downstairs to get into the car. Adrien bid goodbye to Nathalie, thanking her once more, and she gave him a small smile and wave. They then went outside and entered the car, putting his suitcases into the trunk.

"Where will it be, Mr. Agreste?" The driver, strangely not the gorilla, asked.

Adrien glanced at Marinette, before looking forwards again. "Home."

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 2,000 hits??? This is overwhelming guys, thank you so much omg. I never expected this trashy fic (which started as a one shot, fun fact) to get this far bless. I hope you enjoyed this chapter! It's gonna get a lil happier now, but we may jump back aboard the angst train later.   
> As usual, comments and kudos are very much appreciated!<3


	14. The Big Plan.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hawkmoth wasn't going to just disappear after all of this.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 100 kudos??? That's amazing, thank you all so much! This is entirely overwhelming, I've never had so many kudos. I hope you enjoy this chapter.

After Adrien settled into Marinette's house, he was already cheering up. Everything seemed to be working out. Hawkmoth had gone quiet, and while both of them suspected that he was planning something, so long as he wasn't terrorising Paris, neither of them really minded. They would still go out and do patrols, interviews and the regular things they were expected to do as superheroes. It had been about a month since everything happened, and the two were sat down in the bakery while it was quiet. Marinette had put a blindfold on Adrien, grinning as she picked up another cupcake, guiding it to his mouth so he could take a bite. He did so, humming in thought as he chewed it.

"Hm... Red velvet?"

Marinette clapped, smiling as she reached over to kiss him quickly. "Well done, kitty! Another one right."

Adrien grinned. "I told you I'd be good at this."

She nodded, despite him not being able to see it. "You really are."

It was then that the program on the TV for low background noise was interrupted by 'Urgent news report'. Marinette caught sight of it, pulling off his blindfold, pointing at the TV.

"Hey, what-" He looked over, eyes widening as he sat up stiffly. 

"Mama, turn it up please!" Marinette's voice was laced with worry.

Sabine turned to them to look at the TV and as she saw it, she grabbed the remote to turn it up so that they could hear it. 

" _Paris is in the worst danger it has been in for a long time. Previous akumatised victims are showing up all around the city."_ _  
_  


Adrien, Marinette and Sabine all shared worried glances as they watched it cut to footage. The first was of The Bubbler, then Evillustrator, Lady Wifi and Volpina. 

" _We're unsure why this is happening, or if they'll be anymore victims, but we will keep you all updated._ " 

"So.. This is what he's been planning. Put us against all of the akumas." 

Adrien gulped. "Maybe.. Maybe it's like The Puppeteer, we only have one akuma to fight?" 

Marinette sighed. "I hope so. This is not going to be fun." 

Sabine looked at them with a caring glance. "Be careful, please." 

They both nodded as they stood up. "We'll try." Marinette supplied, before taking Adrien's hand and running out of the bakery. 

They dived into the closest alleyway to transform, and then ran back out, Ladybug already swinging her yo-yo and heading off, Chat vaulting himself with his baton to follow closely behind. The first akuma they saw was Lady Wifi, though she didn't seem to be attacking anyone. They landed down behind her to try and get a surprise attack in. Ladybug swung her yo-yo, wrapping it around her hand that held her phone. She gasped at the attack, pulling on the string and turning around the face the two. Chat began spinning his baton in his hand threateningly. Marinette pulled the string, tightening the grip on Lady Wifi's hand, praying that Alya wouldn't remember it as she hissed in pain. However, it made her drop the phone. Chat stopped swinging the baton and instead pushing it out so it hit Lady Wifi, pushing her backwards. Marinette loosened the pull of the string so it didn't hurt her as she was pushed back. Ladybug then walked closer, stepping on the phone, watching as an akuma flew out. She glanced worriedly at Chat before purifying it. As Alya came back to herself, Ladybug and Chat Noir walked over. 

"Hey, Alya. Can we ask you some questions?" Ladybug asked softly. 

Alya raised an eyebrow, evidently confused. "About.. What?" 

"You were just akumatised again. Do you have any idea why?" Chat took over.

Alya looked more perplexed at that. "I.. Was?" 

Ladybug and Chat Noir glanced at each other, before back at Alya. "It's alright. You should head home, there's a lot going on right now." 

With that, they walked away from her. "So... They're all actually akumatised, but don't even know anything about it.. How can he do that?" 

Chat shrugged. "I'm not sure. I'm also worried about how easy that was, and if he's planning to do this to every akuma we've faced." 

Ladybug sighed. "Maybe.. They aren't as powerful? It's gotta take a lot out of Hawkmoth to make this many akumas, right? And they don't have the specific motives anymore." 

Chat nodded. "Hopefully. We should probably try to find another one." 

Ladybug hummed in agreement, throwing out her yo-yo to get up onto the rooftops, Chat once more following suit. "We should try not to use cataclysm or lucky charm." He commented as they walked along the rooftop. "We can't afford to be waiting around for our kwamis to regain energy while there's so many akumas." 

Nodding, Ladybug scanned the city. "He's probably counting on that, so we'll just have to try and stay one step ahead."

The fights with The Bubbler and The Evillustrator were as easy as the one with Lady Wifi. The two superheroes grew more worried with each fight, especially when neither Nino or Nathanael could tell them anything. The Nathanael fight was slightly harder for Marinette, purely because of their past, which Chat noticed and easily took over up to the purification.

"The only other akuma on the news was Volpina, right?" Chat asked as they walked along a rooftop.

Ladybug nodded as she searched the area they were walking above. "I'm still worried about how easy this has been. None of them have even _tried_ to fight us."

Chat sighed, going quiet for a few minutes. Then, he ducked down, grabbing Ladybug's hand to pull her down with him. He then pointed ahead and the orange blur that passed by. Ladybug nodded, making a few hand signals that Chat managed to follow, nodding. They then got up, Ladybug swinging off one way, Chat running another. They landed down by Volpina either side, slightly behind her so that she wouldn't see them. If this fight was anything like the others, they were prepared to get it over and done with in a few minutes. Ladybug decided to swing out her yo-yo to wrap around Volpina, but as she did, she disappeared. Ladybug groaned, realising it was an illusion. Apparently Volpina was going to be the one to fight them. It was then that Ladybug realised this was obviously a ploy to get them there, looking over at Chat to tell him. He was gone.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Whooops. I said I'd make it happy, and I did, for two minutes. But then I had another one of my evil ideas, so, whoops.   
> As usual, comments and kudos are greatly appreciated!


	15. Volpina.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "You're not done with Volpina yet, Ladybug. You haven't seen the last of her."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I honestly can't believe how many hits and kudos' this fic is getting, you're all so lovely!! Thank you so much, enjoy this chapter.

Ladybug felt her heart drop to her stomach, and she felt weak as she realised Volpina had taken Adrien. For real, this time. As she saw an orange blur fly past, her eyes narrowed and she immediately began to follow it, at this point not caring if it was an illusion; she was too worried about Chat and focused on getting him back to care. Even though this version of Volpina was an illusion, it still lead her to the real Volpina. When Ladybug landed, her eyes widened. In front of her was Alya, Nino, Nathanael and Chat. All tied up, Volpina stood on a ledge above them, laughing maliciously. Marinette felt her heart beat race as she stood up and stared at the people she cared most about, and then it hit her. The akumas... Were all illusions. Distractions, allowing Volpina to kidnap the _real_ versions. Hawkmoth must have told Volpina, or Lila, everything, since everyone captured were all her friends. Volpina finally jumped down from the ledge, landing in front of the row of her friends. 

"So, Ladybug, you finally made it." Volpina smirked. "Or should I call you Ma-" 

"No!" Chat yelled out, Ladybug still frozen in shock. 

Volpina rolled her eyes, turning around and crouching in front of Chat, conjuring up a rag. "Be quiet, kitty." She wrapped the rag around his head to use as a gag, before standing and turning back around.

"I'm not sure your lucky charm can save you this time." She said sinisterly, leaning her staff over her shoulders. 

Ladybug finally took in the situation and narrowed her eyes. "You know you're not going to win, Volpina." 

Volpina raised an eyebrow, before laughing. " _Really?_ Because," She gestured behind her. "I'd say I've already won." 

Ladybug tightened her grip on her yoyo. "How am I supposed to know that they aren't just illusions?" 

Volpina smirked. "Oh, you shouldn't have asked that." She kicked her leg back, hitting Chat in the face. "Did that _look_ like an illusion to you?" 

"Stop!" She called out, voice laced with pain, watching helplessly as Chat let out a muffled whine. 

Alya, Nino and Nathanael all sat with wide, fearful eyes as they watched this play out in front of them. It was unspoken, but they all felt the same: Truly scared. Anytime an akuma hit, they knew Ladybug and Chat Noir would be able to save everyone within a matter of an hour. But this time, there was something different about the fight, a power imbalance that they didn't know about, but could easily sense. Alya cast a worried glance at Chat, who had now closed his eyes. She then gave the same glance to Nino and Nathanael, who looked just as scared as she was. She sighed under her breath, praying that Ladybug could save them. 

Volpina began pacing up and down, keeping her eyes on Ladybug, waiting for the petrified heroine to make a move. Ladybug attempted to think of a plan, but as her thoughts raced, she found it increasingly difficult. Volpina was obviously stronger this time, her illusions seeming more and more real, working better, everything. She couldn't be sure if Hawkmoth had given her more power, or whether it was truly her anger and jealously building up over the years. Either way, she knew she had to be careful. One wrong move from her and Volpina could easily injure one of her friends. She once more tightened her grip on her yo-yo, not wanting yet to call her lucky charm, knowing that only gave her five minutes and frankly, she knew this battle was going to take longer than that. 

"Anytime today, Ladybug." Volpina stopped her pacing as she was in front of the heroine. "Or I might have to _make_ you start fighting." 

"N-No!" She cried, trying to keep her eyes on Volpina instead of her friends. However, she stayed completely still. 

Volpina sighed, turning around to walk over to the row of her friends. She held her staff, tapping each one on the head as she walked past them all, starting with Alya, since she was on one end, Chat being at the other. "Eeny, meeny, miney-" 

Ladybug watched her get closer to Chat, and on impulse threw out her yo-yo to grab Volpina's staff before she could actually reach him. As Volpina felt a tug on the staff she held it tighter, and gave a laugh, pivoting around to face Ladybug again. 

"You seem protective over your little alley cat." 

Ladybug didn't answer, instead tried pulling the staff closer to her. Volpina rolled her eyes, keeping it by her side, even with the yo-yo wrapped around it.

"In case you forgot," This time, she yanked the staff closer to her, making Ladybug stumble forewords a few steps. " _I_ have the power of super strength."

"No, Volpina." She brought back her yo-yo, seeing as it was only helping out the super-villain. " _You_ are under Hawkmoth's influence."

"I've had enough chit-chat for one day," She deadpanned, gripping her staff.

Ladybug found herself staring at the fox tail pendant hanging around Volpina's neck. At least the akuma was still in the same place. All she had to do was get close enough to grab-

A muffled scream came from Chat which dragged Ladybug out of her thought process, looking over to see him with wide eyes, blood trickling down his face. Volpina had smashed the end of her staff against his head. Alya, Nino and Nathanael all collectively gasped as they watched it happen, their gazes becoming more fearful than before.

"Stop!" She screamed out, voice evidently displaying her fear.

"Or what? You keep screaming at me, but you're yet to actually _try_ and stop me." Volpina was still staring at Chat as she spoke, an ominous smile remaining on her face.

Ladybug had had enough. Whatever was holding her back disappeared as she hurt Chat for the second time. Taking advantage to the fact that Volpina was still facing Chat, she jumped up, kicking Volpina in the back of her head. Volpina barely winced. Instead, she turned around with a raised brow.

"Is that the best you can do?" With that, she created a blast from her staff which sent Ladybug flying backwards.

Ladybug managed to compose herself, and landed facing Volpina. She took a run up towards her again, swinging her yo-yo around. As she got closer, she sent the yo-yo flying in her direction, aiming to hit her as she did to Hawkmoth before. Volpina flew upwards as she saw the yo-yo coming her way, which meant the hit went to Nathanael instead, slicing a cut into his shoulder. Ladybug gasped as she saw what she did, holding her hands up to her mouth, tears welling up in her eyes as she heard Nathanael cry out. After a few seconds, however, he glanced up at Ladybug and gave a pained smile, clearly understanding what she was trying to do. Though teary eyes she watched him mouth 'it's okay' to her. She shook her head, but didn't have time to apologise as Volpina cam flying back down, kicking Marinette in the stomach. She stumbled backwards at that, struggling for breath for a good minute. She didn't want to look at her friends, knowing they'd all share the same fearful look, knowing that two of them were injured. As she regained herself, she swung her yo-yo upwards, letting it wrap around some sort of pillar. She jumped up, using the force to then swing back down behind Volpina, kicking into her back. Finally, one of her hits had some sort of impact as Volpina stumbled forwards. Ladybug landed in front of her friends in a protective stance, glaring viciously at Volpina.

"So you can fight." Volpina laughed quietly. "You had me fooled."

She dashed forwards to punch Ladybug, but she noticed her fist rising up and grabbed it, and kicked at Volpina's legs, sending her flying to the ground in front of Ladybug. Taking a moment to calm her breathing as she saw Volpina on the ground, she crouched down, grabbing the necklace from around Volpina's neck. She snapped the fox pendent in half, watching as the akuma flew out of it. She wasted no time in purifying it. Since she hadn't used her lucky charm, everything went back to normal with the purification instead. The chains binding her friends disappeared, as did Nathanael's and Chat's injuries, and Volpina reverted back to Lila. Ladybug sighed, turning around to face Chat, wrapping him in a huh. He took no hesitation in hugging her back, resting his head on her shoulder. Ladybug looked over Chat's shoulder to her other friends, who were also hugging each other. She allowed herself a small smile. Reluctantly, she let go of the hug, smiling at Chat, before walking closer to her friends.

"I'm sorry, Na-Mister, about your arm." She gave an apologetic smile.

He gave a small shrug. "It's alright. I get that you weren't aiming for me."

She nodded a little. "Are you guys all alright? Do you think you'll be able to get home safely?"

They all gave positive answers at once, and Ladybug let her smile grew a little. Just knowing they were okay made her feel a bit better. They all bid their goodbyes, Ladybug told them not to hesitate contacting her if they needed anything. They all began heading off, and Ladybug took a deep breath before turning around to Lila, crouching down.

"Lila? Are you okay?" She asked softly.

Lila sat up slowly, looking at the heroine in front of her. "I'm fine, I think. Uh, I'm sorry about... About everything."

Ladybug smiled. Clearly she, as herself, had matured over the years. "It's alright, it's not your fault, it's Hawkmoth's. I understand if you still dislike me after the way I acted the last time we saw each other, I was out of line. But If you ever need anything, know I'll always be willing to help."

Lila blinked a few times, before smiling a little. "Thank you, Ladybug."

Ladybug nodded, reciprocating the smile and stood up, offering a hand to Lila. She took it, and stood up with her, walking over to Chat.

"I'm sorry, Chat." She rubbed her hand along the back of her neck. Ladybug seemed a little confused, as usually people never remembered how they acted when akumatised.

Chat smiled. "It's alright. I blame Hawkmoth, not you. Don't worry about it."

She gave another smile, before walking away. Ladybug then walked over to Chat, kissing his cheek and wrapping an arm around his shoulder. "I think it's time we get home, kitty." 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Angst everywhere with me, apparently. I keep putting these two through so much I'm sorry, I'll make sure next chapter is entirely fluff. 
> 
> As usual, comments and kudos are very much appreciated! <3


	16. A family film night is in order.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Just fluff and Harry Potter.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay since there's been a lot of angst lately, here is a chapter consisting entirely of fluff. I guess there is some Harry Potter spoilers if somehow you are yet to have read/watched the series. I hope you enjoy it!

Sabine sighed with relief as she watched the two superheroes land near the bakery. They didn't even bother to de-transform, just checked no one was around and came inside, smiling over at her. She immediately rushed into the kitchen to grab some things, and Adrien and Marinette guessed that she watched the news report as it continued on. In flashes of green and pink stood in the places of Chat and Ladybug were Adrien and Marinette, and Marinette ushered Adrien to sit down. As he did so, she grabbed her own chair and sat in front of him. Marinette then began pushing back his golden hair to check over his forehead, and his face in general, just to be sure that none of his injuries remained. Adrien saw the panic in her eyes, and tenderly placed his hand on her cheek, smiling softly.

"I'm fine, Mari. Don't worry about it."

Marinette didn't respond, instead reached forewords to kiss him. His other hand came up to hold her other cheek, and Marinette wrapped her arms around his shoulders. They were only interrupted when Sabine walked back in, clearing her throat to alert them that she was there. The two then separated, blushing lightly. Sabine rolled her eyes, but the smile on her face let them know that she wasn't upset with them. She brought over a tray that had two mugs of hot chocolate and some various pastries from the bakery and placed it on the table they were sat by, before also deciding that she needed to check Adrien over as well.

"Adrien, sweetie, are you okay? I saw what happened on the news."

He smiled, giving a gentle laugh. "I'm alright. You guys are like the Weasleys, you know."

Sabine raised an eyebrow, while Marinette lovingly rolled her eyes. "He's making a Harry Potter reference, mum. The Weasleys pretty much took in Harry, and Molly was very motherly towards him. Like you are with Adrien."

Adrien nodded happily. "And if I'm Harry, your mum is Molly, that makes you Ginny."

Marinette giggled, ruffling his hair. "You are _such_ a dork. I love it."

Sabine cooed at them. "You two are so cute."

Marinette blushed again, picking up her mug of hot chocolate. "Thank you for these, mum."

Adrien followed her lead, grabbing his own mug and taking a sip. "Yeah, thank you. I don't know how you guys do it, but you even manage to improve hot chocolate."

Sabine smiled widely. "I couldn't tell you. It's a secret, even Marinette and Tom don't know."

As if on cue, Tom came rushing into the bakery, looking over Adrien and Marinette. "Are you guys okay? I heard what happened on the news and got back as quickly as I could."

All three of them directed smiles over to Tom, which made him visibly relax a little. "We're fine, papa."

He sighed with relief, gave a nod and walked over to Sabine to wrap an arm around her. She looked up at him with a loving glance and began asking about the delivery he was on. Adrien glanced at Marinette's parents for a few minutes, smiling gently, he then looked over to Marinette, who was drinking some of her hot chocolate.

"We'll be like them, one day." He said quietly.

She looked up at him with a soft gaze, small smile, and a hot chocolate moustache. "Aww, I hope so."  

Adrien gave a small laugh, reaching over to wipe the hot chocolate from her upper lip. She blushed a little. "Thanks."

Adrien's smile grew a little, taking a sip of his own hot chocolate. "You're adorable, princess."

Marinette took another sip of her hot chocolate and smiled. "How about we watch Harry Potter?"

Adrien's smile became a grin as he nodded excitedly. "That sounds amazing!"

Marinette laughed lightly. "I knew you'd think so. Mama, papa, do you want to watch Harry Potter with us?"

Her parents both nodded, and Sabine came over to pick up the tray so Marinette and Adrien placed down their mugs. "You two go and set it up, we'll make some more snacks."

Reciprocating the nod, Marinette took Adrien's hand, stood up, and led him upstairs to their apartment. As they got into the lounge, Marinette searched for the first DVD, passed it to Adrien and instructed him to set it up. While he did so, she rushed upstairs to grab as many blankets and pillows as she could. She held them all, trying not to fall downstairs as she headed back down. Getting down without any injuries, she walked over to the sofa and placed them all down, organising them. Adrien watched her with a smile as he loaded up the DVD. Marinette flopped down onto the sofa, relaxing immediately. Adrien took the remote and sat down next to her, cuddling up to her side and resting his head on her shoulder. The two waited as Sabine and Tom came up, Tom pulling the coffee table closer to the sofa, and Sabine placed down a larger tray with more hot chocolate and snacks. Marinette and Adrien smiled as they saw it, and once Sabine and Tom had sat down together, Adrien started the film. They watched it in comfortable silence, except for Marinette and Adrien answering a few questions that Sabine asked. Some point during the film Marinette found herself lifting her hand to pet Adrien's hair, and noticed him visibly relaxing. She smiled down at him before taking her attention back to the film. As it came to an end, Marinette found herself groaning.

"What's wrong?" Her mother asked softly.

"Slytherin should have had the house cup. Dumbledore clearly gave it to Gryffindor out of favouritism." She scoffed, and Adrien laughed slightly, looking up at her.

"I think you'd be Slytherin, Mari."

"And you'd be Hufflepuff." She smiled, kissing his forehead. "Or Gryffindor. But mostly Hufflepuff."

"I agree with Marinette," Tom piped in. "If Dumbledore wanted to give them those extra points, he could have done it before the ceremony. He shouldn't be allowed to award extra points after the house cup has been awarded!"

Marinette nodded. "Exactly! I'll never forgive him for it."

Sabine laughed lightly, looking up at her husband. "I didn't realise you liked these films so much."

Tom grinned. "Of course! Are we watching the rest?"

Marinette and Adrien nodded happily, and Adrien reluctantly got up to change it over to Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets. Once it was set up, he pressed play and resumed his position curled up to Marinette, who then continued to stroke his hair. They got through that film just as easily as the last, Sabine managing to ask less questions, beginning to understand everything more. After that film finished, they swapped it out for Prisoner of Askaban.

"This is the one with Remus and Sirius!" Marinette squealed excitedly.

Adrien nodded. "They were definitely in love."

Marinette easily reciprocated the nod. "Yeah! I wish we got more about the Marauders."

Sabine raised an eyebrow. "Marauders?"

Adrien pressed play on the DVD, and Marinette looked over to her mother. "I'll explain after the film."

As much as they both loved this film, Marinette and Adrien were tired after the akuma fight, and ended up falling asleep about halfway through. Sabine and Tom tried not to coo and wake them up, but they couldn't help it when they looked adorable as they were cuddled up to each other. Sabine reached over to pull a blanket over them, turning down the volume to let them rest peacefully, deciding they really needed it after today. 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Woo! Okay I am a huge Harry Potter nerd, which you can probably tell. Also, thanks to AmyNChan who gave me some inspiration by suggesting that Adrien should refer to the Dupain-Chengs as the Weasleys, which I can totally see! That kind of led me to a Harry Potter filled chapter. 
> 
> As usual, comments and kudos as always appreciated!<3


	17. Angst train.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Adrien and Marinette talk through some things.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Jesus apparently I can't go 2 minutes without writing angst. I don't think this is the best chapter I've written and it's more of a filler than anything, but while I deal with the writers block I have about the main story, I thought I should upload something. Enjoy!

"No, Adrien. Absolutely not." Marinette stood up from her bed to begin pacing around her room.

Adrien sighed. "I don't _want_ to, Mari, but it could be our only chance to destroy Hawkmoth."

She shook her head, stopping her pacing in front of him. "You are not going anywhere near him. Don't you know how dangerous it would be?"

"Look at it this way: I can get close to him. He may be Hawkmoth, but he's still my father, which means he probably would still have some kind of soft spot for me. I can get us so much information, probably enough to take him down."

"No! I can't let you do that, you risk your life enough." Her voice fell quiet for a moment. "Sometimes I.. I hate how selfless you are!"

Adrien furrowed his brows. "It's our job, Mar-"

"Nope. It's our job to keep Paris safe. And we'll continue to do that until we have a plan to take down Hawkmoth which _doesn't_ include you stupidly risking your life."

Adrien gave another sigh, hiding his face in his hands. Marinette watched him, and all of her anger dissipated. She sat down next to him, wrapping her arm around his shoulders and pulling him closer to her.

"Look, Adrien. I know you like to take the blame for everything, but you can't carry the world on your shoulders. You don't have to go risking your life just because you can. I appreciate every single time you try and protect me, but you need to protect yourself, too. I can't do this alone, I need you. You can be seriously reckless sometimes and it.. It worries me."

Adrien closed his eyes, nuzzling his face into the crook of her neck. "Sorry, Mari."

She ran her hand along his back in soothing circles. "It's alright, I know you have good intentions. I love you."

"I love you too."

Suddenly, Marinette started laughing. Probably hysterically. Confusion took over Adrien's features, and he looked up at her with a raised eyebrow.

"You alright?"

"Oh, my god. Two people who are barely even adults are having a conversation about risking our goddamn lives." She shook her head, another giggle bubbling at her lips.

Adrien lifted his head, kissing her cheek. "Because we're superheroes, Mari. It's kind of what we have to do."

She stood up. "Yeah. And I've been living a _lie_ for the past 5 years of my life." She sighed.

Adrien got up with her, taking her hand in his. "Well, your parents know now. And so do I. You have people who love and care about you, and we'll always be here for you."

She sighed a little. "Yeah... Yeah, I guess that's true. I think I'm going to go for a walk, alone. I'll be back later."

With a quick kiss, she headed down through the trap door before even Tikki could join her, and was out of the bakery in a flash. Adrien watched her leave with a small frown, before lying down on the bed, running his hands across his face.

"I'm sure she'll be back soon." Tikki said softly, hovering above Adrien.

Adrien smiled at her, nodding. "Yeah, I hope so."

 

Marinette was walking, although it wasn't like she really knew where she was going. She was mainly focused on keeping her emotions under control, since there was no way she was letting Hawkmoth get near her, or Adrien. It was only when it was becoming dark out that she realised she'd been out for a while, and decided to head back home. She looked around, and didn't recognise the part of Paris she was in in the dim light. Sighing, she turned around and hoped for the best, wrapping her arms tightly around her chest as a brisk breeze flew past her.

 

Meanwhile, Adrien was growing more and more worried. He kept glancing out of the window, and going downstairs to check if she was in the bakery. Eventually, as he realised the sun had set, he gave up waiting, and looked over to Plagg, who nodded.

"Plagg, claws out." He said with much less enthusiasm than usual.

In a flash of green light he stood as Chat, looking over at a worried Tikki. He bit his lip in thought, before looking at the raised collar of his suit. "Want to come with me?"

She nodded without hesitation, before flying over to settle herself by his neck. "Hold on tight." He warned, before jumping out of the window.

Chat jumped around Paris, occasionally asking Tikki if there was any place in particular that Marinette might be, and searching those more thoroughly.

A hooded man slowly gained speed on Marinette, before wrapping his arm around her neck, hand wielding a knife. Marinette screamed out, kicking in his legs. He did stumble backwards, but he then lunged at her with the knife. Marinette tried to duck the attack, but he still managed to slice a cut into her shoulder. She hissed in pain, but still tried to throw a punch at him.

The sound of Marinette screaming reached Chat's ears and his eyes widened. He quickly dropped to all fours and ran straight towards where he heard the sound. The metallic smell of blood tickled his nose as he closed in on Marinette and her attacker, which caused anger to bubble up inside of him. As soon as he saw what was happening, he dived down, kicking the attacker with a lot of force, growling as he landed in front of Marinette. The attacker tried to get past Chat to Marinette, but of course he flung himself in front of the knife, receiving a cut on his cheek for his efforts. He managed to claw at the hand which held the knife, though, and he dropped it. Chat then kicked the knife away, taking a glance at Marinette who was backing against a wall and panting. He winced on her behalf, before the attacker attempted to get closer to Marinette.

"You stay away from her!" He hissed, kicking back the attacker so he landed on the ground. 

Chat walked over to him, kicking his face for good measure. "Don't you ever think about touching her, or any other citizen in Paris again, unless you want to deal with me."

Grabbing a fistful of his shirt, Chat pulled him up with more force than necessary, so he could glare at him. At this point, he didn't care that his claws were piercing the attacker's chest slightly.

"I mean it, you _stay. Away._ " Growling at him once last time, Chat threw the attacker a wall away from the one Marinette was backed against.

The attacker quickly scrambled away, and the anger in Chat quickly became worry as he rushed to Marinette's side. Tikki quickly flew out from Chat's suit, and over to her chosen with a worried glance. Marinette gave a pained smile.

"Thank you, Chat." She coughed, holding her hand tightly over her injured shoulder.

Chat frowned, wrapping one arm under her shoulders carefully, the other under her knees and he picked her up bridal style. "We need to get you home. You might have to go to a hospital."

She winced, shaking her head against his chest. He pressed a quick kiss on her forehead before slowly vaulting them onto the closest rooftop, and he began running back to her house, being careful as to not jostle her shoulder around too much. They got back to the bakery in a few minutes, and quickly kicked open the door, apologising as he did so. Sabine and Tom both rushed over to them at the noise, gasping as they saw Marinette, who's eyelids were drooping.

"She got attacked, luckily I was out looking for her." Adrien explained, placing her down on a table, where she remained cuddled to his chest.

"So did you, by the look of your face." Tom stated worriedly as Sabine ran off to get their first aid kit.

Adrien lifted a hand to his face, looking at the blood that covered his clawed fingers as he did so. He was so focused on helping Marinette that he'd forgotten about his own injury. He gave Tom a reassuring smile, before shrugging.

"I'm in the suit, Plagg's helping with my pain, we need to worry about Marinette."

Tom gave a nod, but that didn't stop him from stealing worried glances in Adrien's direction as Sabine returned with the first aid kit. She carefully cut away the fabric around Marinette's shoulder. As Sabine got to work on cleaning the wound, Marinette didn't even wince at the sting, instead cuddled herself closer to Adrien's chest, eyes almost shut.

"So.. Tired.." She mumbled.

Adrien looked at her with a pained smile, kissing her head. "Hey, don't fall asleep yet. Look at me, focus on my eyes."

Her eyelids slowly came back up, and she gave a small smile as she looked into Adrien's eyes. "They're... Really.. Green."

Adrien nodded slowly. "Yeah, focus on that, stay awake."

He quickly looked up at Sabine and Tom, who were currently trying to wrap Marinette's wound. He kissed Marinette's head again. After a few minutes more, Sabine moved away from Marinette, before reaching over to kiss her daughter's cheek. Marinette smiled sleepily at her mother, who then looked over at Adrien with a frown.

"We need to sort out your injury too, Adrien."

He gave a small nod, before de-transforming, immediately feeling the sting of pain that Plagg had muted, hissing a little at the air that flew into the wound. Sabine pulled a chair out, and Adrien reluctantly moved away from Marinette to sit down in it. Sabine then got to cleaning Adrien's wound, and Marinette reached over to run her hand through his hair to comfort him like he had for her. He smiled over at her, before closing his eyes and letting Sabine tend to his wound. Once he was patched up like Marinette, he stood up, wrapping Sabine in a hug to thank her. She happily hugged him back, before letting him go.

"You two should go get some rest." She said softly, and Adrien nodded, walking over to Marinette to pick her up again.

He carried her up to their room, and lay her down on the bed, before he crawled in next to her, curling around her uninjured side. She happily cuddled close to him, too, lazily pulling up the blanket around them.

"Sweet dreams, mon amour." Adrien whispered, kissing her.

"G'night, mon minou."

Within minutes, the both of them were peacefully asleep.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you enjoyed this chapter! And as usual, comments and kudos are greatly appreciated! <3


	18. Mangy alley cat.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Marinette and Chat Noir get caught.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Was this chapter necessary? No. Was it fun to write? Yeah. Is there too much dialogue? Definitely. Does this fic even have a plot anymore? Not really. 
> 
> Anyway. I'm gonna try and work on actually putting a plot back into play in this fic, but until then, enjoy these random filler chapters, since I hate not uploading for too long.

The next morning, Adrien had protested against Marinette patrolling, and told her he could do it himself.

"Adrien, I'm fine." Marinette argued weakly, before catching her injured arm against her ladder, wincing.

Adrien looked at her with a concerned gaze, checking her arm over to make sure that she hadn't moved the bandage. "No, princess, you need rest. I can do this patrol, it's no problem."

Marinette sighed in defeat, since her arm was still hurting her. Adrien gave a small reassuring smile before transforming and heading up to the balcony. Marinette followed him up, pulling on his hand before he could leap away.

"Stay safe." She murmured, pulling him in for a quick kiss.

Adrien smiled into the kiss, moving away a few seconds later. "Go lie down, I'll bring back some coffee."

Marinette nodded, smiling at him as he leaped away. She headed back inside, flopping down onto her bed, although her rest didn't last long when she got a call from Alya.

"Hey, Alya - Why, what's -- Alright, alright, I'm on my way."

She hung up, and when her kwami looked at her with a confused expression she shrugged, getting up, putting some shoes before making her way downstairs and out of the bakery. As soon as she did so, her angry looking best friend pulled her into a close by alleyway.

"Alya! What-"

"Girl, spill." She directed a glare at Marinette.

"What do you mean?"

"Don't play dumb with me, M, I just saw you and Chat Noir sharing slobber on your balcony."

Marinette inwardly winced, not having a good reply.

"He's supposed to be with Ladybug!! And you're with Adrien! What do you think you're doing?"

Sighing, Marinette pulled out her phone. She knew there was only one way out of this, but she didn't think it was fair to do it alone. Ignoring Alya's raised eyebrow, Marinette dialled the number for Chat's communicator.

"Hey, Chat." Alya's anger rose.

"Yeah, the alleyway outside the bakery, you know the one. Hurry."

She hung up, and looked anywhere else in the alleyway to avoid her friend's glare. It only took a few seconds for Chat to drop down next to Marinette, placing a comforting hand on her shoulder as Marinette looked at him with an apologetic gaze. This riled Alya up, and she pointed an accusing finger at the superhero.

"You! You mangy alley cat, I don't know what kind of trick you think you're-"

"Whoa, whoa, calm the cattitude. What's going on?"

Alya looked like she might explode, so Marinette supplied: "She saw us on my balcony."

Chat's calm expression fell. "Ah."

Marinette sighed again. "Yeah."

Alya clenched her fists at her sides. "So, are either of you going to explain? Because if not, I'll happily put this on the Ladyblog so your partners can see."

Both of their eyes widened. "No!" They screamed in unison.

Alya scoffed. "Well then, you better have a good explanation."

The two shared some looks, and Marinette nodded. "It's the only way."

"What is?" Alya asked with narrowed eyes.

"Alya, stay calm enough to come up to my room and we'll explain everything there."

"What, your parents will be alright with you taking a superhero to your room? Yeah, right, Mari."

Marinette just began walking back into the bakery. Chat smiled at Alya, which earned him a glare as they followed Marinette.

"Marinette? Chat? Alya?" Sabine's confusion rose as she saw each of them walk in.

Marinette just smiled at her mother. "We've got some explaining to do, I'll tell you later mama."

Sabine, being used to their different superhero antics, just nodded, going back to serving customers. Chat waved at her on his way back which was reciprocated, and Alya couldn't decide whether to be more confused or angry. As the trio reached Marinette's room, Alya glared between the two again.

"Your mum knows about this?"

Marinette shrugged. "Yeah."

Chat glanced at her, and she nodded. In sync, there was a 'claws in' and a 'spots on' and a very confused Alya. Stood in the places of Marinette and Chat Noir were Ladybug and Adrien respectively. Alya's eyes widened, opening her mouth to say something. Instead, she ended up gaping, so she closed it again. There was an eerie silence in the room for a few minutes as Alya tried to process everything.

"Y-You're-?" Was all she managed to get out.

Ladybug nodded. "Sorry we didn't tell you earlier, but with your Ladyblog, we were.. Kind of worried you'd tell everyone. Spots off."

Alya pretty much fell back into Marinette's computer chair as she watched the super heroine revert back into her best friend. She rested her head in her hands, before groaning.

"Oh, god. No wonder you didn't tell me. I spent all of this time telling you how much I want to unmask you- ugh. Sorry, I shouldn't have.. That was wrong."

Marinette walked over, pulling over the second chair and sitting by her best friend, placing a comforting hand on her knee, smiling reassuringly. "It's alright, we have to keep it a secret anyway, we didn't not tell you purely because of the blog. But, at the moment, it's all kind of messed up anyway."

Adrien had walked over to stand by the pair, smiling down at Alya. "Messed up is an understatement."

Alya removed her hands from her face so she could raise an eyebrow at the pair. "What's going on? This is off the record, I promise."

Marinette glanced at Adrien, who nodded. She then began explaining the events of the past few weeks, and as she did so, Alya's eyes widened. 

"So, that's why Volpina..?"

Marinette nodded. "Yeah."

Alya looked up at Adrien with a sympathetic glance. "Adrien... I'm so sorry."

He shrugged a little. "It's alright, I've been living here, and it's much nicer, anyway." He smiled at Marinette, who reciprocated.

Alya groaned again. "And I'm sorry for calling you a mangy alley cat."

That made Adrien laugh. "You didn't know, you had every right to be angry."

Alya nodded, before perking up again. "You guys have to tell me all of the details."

"I'll let Mari do that, I've still got a patrol to do." Adrien smiled, before transforming.

Marinette pulled him down by the bell of his suit to kiss him. "Hurry back, and don't forget the coffee." She smirked.

"Ooh, I'll have a coffee!" Alya piped in, which only made Marinette's smirk grow.

Adrien rolled his eyes playfully. "Alright. See you guys later." He did his two finger salute, before heading out of the balcony.

As soon as Adrien had left, Marinette began explaining everything. Earlier anger forgotten, they were laughing and joking like the best friends they were. Alya wanted to know everything, and Marinette explained the best she could, making sure to tell her what she could and couldn't publicise on her blog. Marinette also promised that she and Adrien would give her some exclusive interviews from time to time, which made Alya practically squeal with excitement. Soon enough, Adrien dropped back into the room with three coffees, heading over to the two.

"Having fu- Alya?" Adrien's eyes widened as she began scratching behind one of his cat ears, a grin on her face. Realisation struck, and Adrien glared only half seriously at his girlfriend.

"You told her about the cat thing, didn't you?" He ducked away from Alya's hand, handing the two their coffees.

"You left me to explain everything, so I did." Marinette smiled smugly as Adrien pulled over a spare chair to sit with them.

"That does _not_ go on the Ladyblog, Alya. Claws in."

"Aww," Alya complained teasingly, "I'm sure all of the Chat Noir fans would love to know that you really are just a big kitty cat."

Adrien rolled his eyes, taking a sip of his coffee. "I'm pretty sure everyone thinks it's an act."

Alya nodded. "Well, yeah. People don't expect tiny gods -kwamis, right?- to be fused with you, or for that to have.. Side effects."

"It's strange. Remember princess fragrance? After Mari used the miraculous cure, I realised I was  _literally_ licking my hand clean."

"You were?!" Marinette and Alya asked in sync, before bursting into a fit of giggles.

Adrien blushed lightly, distracting himself with his coffee. "Once again, I wonder why I even tell you these things."

Marinette calmed down enough to speak again. "You're adorable, kitty. Though that one was probably my fault, I did toss you into the Seine."

"You did?" Adrien asked with a raised brow.

Marinette nodded. "In all fairness, it was either that or leave you stranded on a boat full of exploding fireworks."

Adrien shrugged. "I guess the Seine was the better option."

Alya laughed a little. "You guys are probably the strangest couple ever." 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you enjoyed this chapter! As usual, comments and kudos are greatly appreciated.


	19. Akuma Attack.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It was just a normal akuma attack. 
> 
>  
> 
> ...Right?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter 19 seems crazy to me, wow. As you can tell, though, I've given up with naming my chapters - it's difficult okay. 
> 
> I'm planning for this to be the beginning of the end, since I finally have a vague idea of how I want things to play out. There's still a few more plot twists coming your way, though. ;)

Marinette and Adrien were halfway through 'Harry Potter and the half-blood prince' when Marinette's phone went off. She picked it up, half expecting it to be a message from Alya. However, when she saw that it was a news report, she sighed, reaching out to pause the film on her laptop, earning her a confused look from her boyfriend.

"Akuma attack." She answered his unasked question, untangling herself from him and getting up, stretching out.

Adrien nodded, getting up with her, mumbling something close to 'claws out'. Marinette transformed too, and the pair headed out onto the balcony, rushing over to the source of danger. Swinging down in front of the akuma, they were met with a girl wearing a black and white stripped dress, a mask akin to theirs covering her eyes. Chat quickly looked around, noticing that the people the akuma had hit had a ball and chain around their feet, walking around slowly in a line. He raised an eyebrow. A prisoner? He quickly began scanning the girl for anything that the akuma could be hiding in, but was distracted when a hit was sent Ladybug's way. She was quick to dodge it, of course, but the hits kept coming. She was flipping and jumping away from hits, while occasionally swinging around her yo-yo to deflect others.

"Hey, over here!" Chat called out, grabbing his baton instinctively.

The girl looked at him, but quickly took her attention back to Ladybug, and Chat frowned confusedly. He thought about what motives she may have, and did think about how she probably wanted to get rid of people like police officers, and them, since she maybe had an issue with the justice system. But, she only seemed to be attacking Ladybug, and he couldn't see any police officers trapped. He became worried, wondering if this attack had more to do with Hawkmoth rather than the girl's negative emotions. A prisoner was an easy target for said negativity...

Still, Chat decided, he didn't have time to think about it too much when Ladybug was being singled out and heavily attacked. He waited until she drew the akuma away, meaning the girls back was facing Chat. As soon as it was, he pounced forewords, jumping up and kicking her back. The girl grumbled, stumbling forewords slightly, and Chat quickly extended his baton, and swung it at her feet, tripping her over. Ladybug slid to a halt, smiling thankfully at Chat. He reciprocated her smile, but as the two were distracted by each other, the akuma directed a hit at Ladybug's legs. Ladybug hissed in pain, but her expression soon became perplexed when no ball and chain appeared on her feet, but instead a small cut. She looked back up at Chat, who had stomped down on the girls arm to prevent her from any more attacks, but he looked just as confused. She shrugged at him, and both of their gazes went back to the akuma.

"She seems to be a prisoner," Chat stated, ignoring the girls struggle under his boot. "So what could she have on her that an akuma is in?"

Ladybug walked over, crouching down to look at the girl. As she did so, she spotted a hair pin. "This, apparently."

The girl gasped, struggling even more as Ladybug plucked the pin from her hair, crushing it and watching as the akuma flew out. She wasted no time in purifying it, but Chat -if it were possible- just looked even more confused as there was no sweet farewell to the butterfly. He quickly stepped away from the girl as she reverted back, and looked around as everyone was freed from their ball and chain. Police officers immediately swarmed the area to detain the girl, and Ladybug swung away before Chat could even open his mouth to speak to her.

"Ladybug?" He called out, even though she was just a red blur flying away. He quickly vaulted himself up to a rooftop to follow her back to her house.

Marinette de-transformed as she dropped into her room with a huff. Her kwami worriedly flew over to where she was hit. "Marinette, are you alright?"

Answering with a groan, she grabbed her first aid kit and roughly applied a plaster to avoid bleeding onto any of her clothes. As she did so, Chat dropped into the room, sharing a worried look with Tikki. He walked over to where Marinette was standing, but she just ducked away from him, heading towards the trap door of her room. Raising an eyebrow, Chat took a step towards her.

"Don't bother," She said, not turning around as she opened up the door. "I'm just going to get a drink. I'm a big girl, I can do that alone."

Chat noted the sarcasm that was thick in her voice, and he sighed, dropping down into her computer chair, de-transforming, looking at the two kwamis. "Did I do something?"

"Doubt it," Plagg supplied. "You two seemed more than friendly earlier."

Trying not to blush, Adrien looked to Tikki for a better answer, but she shrugged. "She didn't talk to me when we came in."

Adrien nodded, and found himself staring at the door, waiting for her to return. His mind began to race, and he wondered if she maybe knew the akumatised victim and it upset her somehow. Lost in his thoughts, he didn't hear her come back into the room. When she did, she walked straight past him and onto the bed, not even taking a glance in his direction. Sighing again, Adrien turned the chair to face her.

"Mari, is something wrong?"

"No."

"Then why are you acting like this? You can talk to me if something's bothering you."

Marinette groaned. "I'm _fine,_ Adrien." Her tone was harsh. "Do you have to be so annoying?"

Adrien blinked, taken aback by this side of Marinette that he'd never seen. "I.. Uh, I'm sorry?"

"Seriously, you're always so crowding, just because you live here doesn't mean we have to be conjoined. I'd like some space."

Adrien swallowed, not knowing how to react to this. "You really mean that?"

" _Yes._ " She finally looked at him, but it was more of a glare. "Don't even think about following me, your voice is irritating me. Spots on."

Tikki looked up confusedly, but didn't have time to react before she was pulled into the transformation. Adrien gasped a little. "Tikki wasn't ready for that transformation, you should have waited for her to get her energy back."

Rolling her eyes, Marinette headed towards the balcony. "Seriously, I'd tolerate you more if you just shut up for once."

With that, she jumped up onto the balcony and swung away, leaving Adrien even more confused. He sighed, hanging his head, her cruel words stinging him. He had no clue if she was acting like this for any reason, so he decided to ask someone who knew her well, and texted Alya, asking her to come over. In just a few minutes, she was bounding up into the room, panting a little.

"Is.." She paused to catch her breath. "Is everything alright?"

Adrien looked up at her, raising an eyebrow. "Did you run the whole way here?"

Alya nodded, sitting down in the other chair. "Yeah, so what's happening?"

Adrien paused, not knowing how to explain it. "Have you and Marinette ever fought?"

Alya suddenly look less concerned, and more annoyed. "I ran here... Because you two have had a fight. Really, Agreste? Have you never fought with anyone before?"

"No, no, I wouldn't call it.. A fight, I didn't do anything." Ignoring Alya's amused raise of an eyebrow, he continued. "After that akuma fight, she didn't say anything, just swung away, and then when we got back, she ignored Tikki, threw a load of insults at me, and left again, after kind of forcing a transformation."

Alya's amused expression dissipated, and was replaced by that of worry. "She's never been the type to be passive aggressive, or to just run away from a situation."

Adrien nodded. "Exactly. I don't know if I upset her, or if the akuma attack did."

"Do you know where she went?"

Adrien shook his head, so Alya sighed. "Do you think we can find her?"

Adrien stood up, looking over at Plagg who was eating some cheese. "You got enough energy, buddy?"

Plagg gulped down the remainder of camembert, nodding. "Sure."

Adrien transformed, and smiled at Alya. "Have you ever travelled by baton?"

Alya stood up, raising an eyebrow. "You want me to come with you?"

"Yeah, she might actually talk to you. Piggy back ride is probably the best way for you to travel with me." He walked up onto the balcony, and Alya followed him.

Adrien stood in front of her, back facing her, holding out his arms towards her. Alya, grinning with excitement, jumped onto his back, wrapping her arms around his shoulders while he wrapped one of his arms under one of her legs. With his other hand, he grabbed his baton, vaulting the two of them onto a rooftop. Alya gripped onto him tighter at the sudden movement, squealing happily.

"This is so cool!" She yelled as Chat began running across the rooftop, laughing a little at her excitement.

The two dashed across different rooftops, looking around for Ladybug. Alya looked around above Chat's head, but she couldn't see so well with the movement and dim light. Chat's eyes easily adapted to the low light, and he continued to search around. He sighed, changing direction as that area proved to be empty. He ran around some more, before spotting Ladybug, and as he did, he came to a halt, gaping. Alya looked confused at the sudden stop.

"Chat, what is it? Can you see her?"

 He blinked a few times to check what he was seeing is true, and when it seemed to be so, he nodded, sighing. He lifted his hand to point a clawed finger over to Ladybug, who was currently walking out of a jewellery store, holding some kind of necklace, smirking and being followed out by an angry and confused store owner. Alya gasped at the sight, and Chat lowered them down onto the ground with his baton, Alya getting off of his back.

"If you did do something, _wow,_ you messed up. She's never done anything like this."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Whoooooops. 
> 
> Comments and kudos are appreciated!<3


	20. Adrien Agrekt

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Chat Noir tries to get through to Ladybug.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay okay the title is silly I know but I love it and I hate naming chapters anyway so deal with it. But on the note of the title it is true, there is quite a lot of violence in this chapter- please let me know if you think I'll need to tag it, because personally I'm not entirely sure if it classes as 'graphic' but even if just one of y'all think so, I will tag it! Also, this chapter is longer than most, so enjoy!<3

"You stay here." Chat said firmly, a look of worry covering his face. Alya noticed that, nodding.

Chat reciprocated her nod, before gripping his baton and walking over to Ladybug, trying to look more stern than he did worried. He tried to ignore the crowd that was beginning to form along the streets, keeping his stare focused on Ladybug. Though she didn't look over at him, Ladybug noticed that he was coming towards her, and with her free hand, swung her yoyo around defensively. She then trailed her gaze away from the necklace and over to Chat, her smirk still on her face.

"Well, if it isn't the little kitty cat." She taunted, stepping closer to Chat, who had stopped still. "Didn't I tell you to stay?"

Chat frowned. "Ladybug, there is clearly something wrong. You know you never act like this."

Ladybug groaned, rolling her eyes. "Always trying to be the hero." She tutted.  "Maybe, _Chat,_ I just got tired of you. Being around you for a long time is enough for anyone to have a breakdown."

Chat tried not to let her words hurt him. "Whatever this is, you need to snap out of it."

"How many times must I tell you before it gets through your thick skull? I'm fine, there's nothing wrong with me."

Before Chat could respond, she threw her yoyo towards him. Gasping a little, he lifted up his baton to block the attack and so the string wrapped around it. Ladybug only seemed to smirk more as if she expected that and gave a mighty tug on the string, causing Chat to lose his grip on the baton. She pulled it back to her, putting the necklace on so she could hold his baton in one hand, her yoyo in the other. Chat gulped, and clenched his fists at his sides. Ladybug extended his baton to staff size, and Chat cursed the fact that their weapons worked for each other as well as themselves. He took a few steps back, while Ladybug just countered them by moving towards him.

"Are you scared? How _pathetic._ " She spat. "I guess there is a reason why you're just my sidekick. Who, by the way, is useless."

Chat's fists unclenched, and he couldn't help but feel the sting of her words. "I know it's not you saying this."

She laughed sinisterly. "What, can't believe that someone doesn't like your pretty little face? I meant every word of it."

Chat couldn't even focus on the attack that she was about to aim at him, or the fact that Alya came darting over. She screamed at him to move, but he was deaf to the words as the string of Ladybug's yo-yo came thrashing towards his face. Alya tackled Chat to the ground, but not before the string sliced a cut into his cheek, just below his mask.

"Chat! Are you alright?" Alya asked worriedly, looking over his face. The fall to the ground brought Chat back to reality, and he blinked a few times before looking at his friend.

"Y-Yeah. Alya, you need to hide, I don't want her to hurt you."

"She would have sliced you in half if I didn't push you out of the way! You were going to let her hit you!" She screamed, though Chat could tell she was just worried and scared.

Chat looked over at Ladybug, who was readying for another attack. "I'm sorry, Alya, I wasn't focusing. Thank you for saving me, but you _need_  to get back to safety."

Before Alya could respond, Ladybug threw out her yoyo again. Chat managed to react this time and grabbed Alya's arms, flipping them over so that he was shielding her, the hit cutting his back. Alya gasped loudly, staring at Chat as his face scrunched up in pain.

"Chat-"

"Alya, safety, now." His voice was firm despite his pained facial expression. "I'm the superhero here, and it's my job to keep you from getting hurt. I'll distract her, you run."

Alya nodded quickly, and Chat stood up, turning to face Ladybug. "You just tried to injure a civilian, Ladybug."

Ladybug just smiled. "But I hit you instead, so I guess I got lucky."

Alya quickly scrambled up and ran off, and Chat noticed that Ladybug's gaze moved to watch her best friend. Before she could do anything about it, Chat pounced at her, in both an attempt to keep her away from Alya and to get his baton back. At the surprise of the attack, they fell to the ground, and Chat managed to pry his baton from her hand, standing back up.

"I won't fight you, Ladybug." He let his baton shrink back down to size so he could hold it more easily.

She didn't respond, instead she threw the yoyo, wrapping the string around his ankles. She pulled on it, leaving him falling to the ground, hissing in pain as he landed, gravel scraping against his cut. Ladybug stood up, pressing her foot down on Chat's chest, where his injury would be on his back, smirking down at him, her yoyo coiling back into her hand.

"I don't know what's gotten into you," Chat breathed. "You were fine before th-" He cut himself off as his gaze trailed to the foot on his chest and up to where the akuma hit her leg earlier.  "The akuma attack."

"Aw, does the kitty think he's smart? How cute." She mocked, pressing her foot down harder. "We both know you're just a distraction, so I don't know why you think you could have figured this out."

Chat bit down on the inside of his cheeks to stop himself from crying out in pain as the gravel on the floor rubbed into his cut. He ignored Ladybug, and tried to continue thinking about it. He knew her leg got cut when she was hit, but he couldn't piece it together. Until more gravel slipped under his skin, and it clicked. The akuma must have hit her with something, and it was probably still lodged into the cut. He decided he needed to get her somewhere where they could get it sorted out, but he wasn't sure how.

"Maybe you're right, since you just helped me figure it all out." He gave a pained smirk as Ladybug raised an eyebrow, but tried to keep up her front.

"I'd never want to help _you_." She hissed. "You're so weak and helpless, living in your girlfriend's house like some sort of stray cat."

She threw her yoyo to slice a cut into his arm. Chat just let her and lifted his other arm, extending his baton and hitting it against the back of her leg that was keeping him down. She instinctively moved it away from him, so he quickly got up, ignoring the pain in his back. Ladybug tried to hit him again, but he managed to dodge it, rushing to the side. She continued to try and attack him, but he began running towards the bakery. Ladybug, unaware of his plan, followed him with more hits aimed in his direction. She managed to swipe at him a few more times, leaving the superhero covered in cuts of all sizes, but eventually, with burning limbs and a bloodied suit, he reached the bakery, practically falling in through the door. There was luckily no customers about, since it was late, and Tom and Sabine rushed over, eyes widening and gasping as they saw him.

"What happened, son?" Tom asked worriedly, running to his side.

Ladybug swung down in front of the bakery, slicing another cut on the back of Chat's leg. Since he was already in a lot of pain and tired, the hit caused him to fall forewords, but Tom caught him before he could hit the ground. "She happened."

Sabine and Tom both looked at Marinette, confusion and anger mixed with a small amount of fear covering their expressions.

"Marinette, what have you done?!" Her mother asked angrily, which actually made Marinette stop in her tracks.

"She.." Adrien fought to stay conscious, slumping against Tom. "The akuma.. Her leg.. Cut.. Stuck.." Was all he could supply before he passed out.

The sight of her parents and her unconscious boyfriend seemed to get through to her, and she fought herself enough to be able to mumble 'spots off.' Tom carefully sat Adrien in a chair, before moving to his daughter, who lost control of herself once more, stepping into a defensive pose, glaring at her father. Without her Ladybug suit, he was stronger than her, so he quickly managed to restrain her, ignoring the girls struggles.

"Sabine, she has a plaster on her leg. That must be the cut Adrien was talking about."

Sabine hummed in acknowledgment, quickly grabbing a first aid kit and kneeling by her daughter, peeling the plaster off. Marinette tried to kick at her mother, but struggled to do so.

"Marinette, fight this! We know you can, just fight it long enough for us to sort this out." Her mother said in a firm voice, which made Marinette's attempts to fight halter a little.

Sabine quickly began inspecting the cut, and sure enough found a miniature shard of some sort stabbed into her skin. She pulled it out quickly, grabbing a gauze to place over the cut to stop any bleeding. She applied pressure to the gauze with one hand, placing the shard down with the other. She then picked up some bandage, wrapping it around her leg and applying some medical tape to keep it place. As soon as she did so, Marinette also lost consciousness almost immediately. Tom loosened his grip on her, and instead picked her up.

"I'll go put her in bed, see if Adrien can de-transform. He needs to get to a hospital." Tom said as he began walking upstairs. As he reached Marinette's room, he lay her down in her bed, sighing sympathetically as he noticed the worried look on the girl's face. He wiped her fringe away from her face, kissing her forehead.

"He'll be alright." He whispered comfortingly, and Marinette visibly relaxed in her sleep, so Tom headed back downstairs.

There, Sabine was stood by Adrien, looking him over worriedly. "Plagg, if you can hear me, release the transformation. Adrien needs to go to hospital."

Tom walked over worriedly, not knowing if that would work. They both stood there in silence for a moment, Tom taking Sabine's hand and squeezing it reassuringly. After a minute that felt like forever passed, a green light flew over Adrien, and a just as battered kwami dropped from the air. Sabine quickly caught him with her spare hand.

"I'll heal." He said quietly. "Adrien needs help, and fast. I was taking away some of the severity of the injuries."

Sabine nodded. "The ambulance is on it's way, but I'm not sure how we'll explain this."

Tom let go off his wife's hand to grab some camembert for Plagg, rushing back over and giving it to him. He took it gratefully, giving a small, unlike him, smile. "Say he fell out of a tree."

It was then that Alya rushed into the bakery, gasping as she saw Adrien, tears filling her eyes as she rushed over to him, practically falling to his side, placing a hand on his un-cut cheek. She managed to drag her gaze away from him for a moment, looking up at Sabine and Tom.

"I-I'm sorry to burst in. Is he okay? Where's Mari?" She asked hurriedly.

Tom placed a comforting hand on Alya's shoulder. "He'll be fine, the ambulance is already on it's way. Marinette passed out as soon as we got the shard out of her, so she's upstairs in bed."

Alya nodded slowly. "Okay. Wait, shard?"

"Adrien muttered something about the akuma and the cut on Marinette's leg when he came in." Sabine explained. "So we had a look, and there was a shard stuck in it, which probably explains her behaviour."

"Yeah. Sorry for the third degree, but how do you plan on explaining this-" She gestured at Adrien's sliced up body. "To the doctors?"

"He fell out of a tree." Tom repeated Plagg's words, smiling over at the kwami.

"That must've been one hell of a fall." Alya muttered, before directing her worried gaze back to her unconscious friend.

Soon enough, the ambulance arrived. Sabine and Alya went with Adrien in the ambulance, while Tom stayed back to wait for Marinette to wake up, since he knew she'd want to see Adrien as soon as she woke up. Plagg slid into Sabine's pocket as the paramedic rushed in, insisting on going with them to be there with Adrien.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay listen: I'm sorry. But hey, Alya and the Dupain-Cheng's to the rescue!  
> I wasn't going to upload so soon but I've literally been writing for this fic non stop, chapters 21 and 22 are already written. I'll probably give it a few days in between uploading each chapter, though.   
> And finally, as always:  
> Comments and kudos are appreciated!<3


	21. Hospital visits.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Adrien spends the day in hospital.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Can you tell that I've given up with chapter titles and summaries? It's difficult okay. 
> 
> This chapter is kind of a filler, but I guess necessary at the same time, and there is a lil bit relating to the plot at the end, so enjoy!

It was a few hours later when Marinette awoke again, shooting up in her bed with a gasp. Tom, who had been sat by her bed, immediately looked over at her.

"I.." Her hazy mind struggled to remember what had happened. " _Adrien_." She mumbled, voice laced with pain and worry.

Tom took her hand, giving it a gentle squeeze. "He's in the hospital. Do you want to go and visit him?"

The word hospital brought tears to Marinette's eyes as she looked to her father with a pained expression. "What.. What did I do?"

He stood up slowly, waiting for her to do the same, choosing not to answer that question, knowing it would just upset her more. "We all know you weren't in control, Marinette, him especially. None of us blame you."

Marinette gave a slow nod, frowning as she stood up and the two walked downstairs and out of the bakery, heading into their car to drive to the hospital, despite the fact that it was almost 2am. There, Sabine and Alya were sat in the chairs next to Adrien's bed, while he remained unconscious, strapped to IV machines and had already had some of his injuries stitched up in emergency. The time in the hospital gave Alya and Sabine time to talk about everything, explaining what each of them knew about the situations, allowing them to bond some more. Plagg was sleeping on the pillow next to Adrien, and even he had been showing worry and concern, despite that being something unlike his usual attitude. As soon as Tom and Marinette reached the hospital, Marinette waited outside the room while Tom walked in. As he did, Sabine and Alya got up, knowing that it was probably best to let Marinette see him on her own. As they walked out, both of them directed reassuring smiles at her.

"He's doing just fine." Sabine said softly.

"Want me to stay with you?" Alya offered, but Marinette shook her head.

Sabine, Tom and Alya all headed over to the waiting room to sit down in those chairs, and Tom gave the two some food that he had brought with them, since they'd been here with Adrien the whole time.

Marinette slowly walked into the room, her hand shooting up to cover her mouth as she caught sight of the visible injuries on Adrien's body. Memories came flooding back and as the door closed behind her, she broke down into tears, shakily walking over to the chair besides his bed.

"Adrien... I'm s-so sorry." She mumbled, taking his hand in hers, closing her eyes, not wanting to look at what she believed she did.

As if her voice brought him back, Adrien slowly blinked open his eyes, immediately frowning as he realised he was in the hospital, girlfriend crying by his side. He weakly squeezed her hand, putting on a small smile to try and reassure her that he was alright.

"Hey, don't apologise." His voice was hoarse, but he continued to soothe her. "None of this was your fault."

She shyly looked up at him, shaking her head. "I said such horrible things." She sobbed again, taking a moment to calm down. "I-it's like, every negative emotion I've ever had was twisted and brought to the surface, a-and I couldn't stop myself. I'm so s-sorry!"

Adrien frowned a little as he listened to her. He cautiously sat up slightly, reaching over to kiss her cheek. "I know it wasn't you in control."

She blinked a few times, trying to control her hitched breathing. "You n-need to lie down, you'll break the stitches."

Adrien nodded, lying back down. "I didn't mean any of it." She said quietly, dropping her gaze. "I feel awful. I hurt you, I tried to hurt Alya, and I- I forced Tikki into a transformation."

As if on cue, Tikki flew out of Marinette's jacket where she had been resting, nuzzling against her cheek. "It wasn't your fault, Marinette. We blame Hawkmoth, not you."

"Yeah," Adrien smiled. "None of it matters, anyway. What matters is that you're back to normal, and we're both okay."

Before they could say anything else, Nathalie rushed into the room, followed by Alya, Sabine and Tom. Tikki quickly flew into Marinette's jacket, and Adrien threw his blanket over Plagg, wincing slightly at the pain the sudden movement brought.

"Sorry," Alya breathed. "We tried to keep her out."

Adrien just smiled at the four. "It's okay."

Nathalie walked over with an uncharacteristically worried look as Alya, Sabine and Tom left the room once more. Marinette also got up, smiling at Adrien. She kissed his head, before walking out, taking a shaky breath as she did so.

Marinette awkwardly went over to the waiting room chairs to join her parents and Alya, but managed to relax slightly when Alya jumped up and wrapped an arm around her shoulders, guiding her to the chairs with a smile.

"It's good to see you back to normal."

"Y-Yeah. I'm really sorry, Alya. And," She looked at her parents. "I'm sorry to you guys, too."

All three of them simply smiled at her and Alya squeezed her shoulder reassuringly. "Don't worry about it, M, we're just happy to have you back."

 

Adrien looked up at Nathalie with confusion, but gave a small smile as she sat down in the chair.

"Adrien, are you alright? How did you even manage to fall out of a tree?"

He blinked, realising that that was probably their cover up story. "I, uh, I was trying to help a.. A stuck kitten, and I slipped on a high up branch. That's all I can remember." He shrugged lightly.

Nathalie nodded slowly. "I heard about your injuries and rushed straight here. How have.. How have you been lately?"

Adrien didn't respond for a second, taken aback. He never really thought that Nathalie cared about him so much. Sure, she occasionally helped him out by covering for him, but as the years passed she only ever showed a strictly business relationship with him. But this, this seemed like a motherly kind of care, and he managed to smile genuinely at her.

"I've been doing okay, thank you."

Nathalie smiled at him, which only made Adrien's own smile grow. "That's good. I shouldn't stay long, your father is waiting on me, but I just wanted to check on you."

The mention of his father brought down his mood, smile fading. "F-Father?"

Nathalie froze, and stood up. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have... I'll see you, Adrien. Take care of yourself."

"Yeah, you too." He sighed as she then left, but he didn't have long to think about it as the others came back into the room seconds after.

Sabine and Tom went over to him, smiling, which he reciprocated. "Do you need anything?" Tom asked.

Adrien nodded. "Could I get some water, please?"

Tom quickly went to the small table in the room, grabbed the jug of water and poured some into a cup, taking it back over to Adrien, who slowly sat up slightly, grabbing the cup and taking a drink. Adrien then gave the cup back, and the room fell into a silence, none of them knowing exactly what to say.

"Fallen out of a tree?" Adrien questioned, breaking the silence with a small laugh.

That was when Plagg flew out from under the blanket, smiling at Adrien. "That was my idea."

Adrien smiled at the kwami, reaching up a hand to gently pat his head. "I should've guessed."

Marinette stood awkwardly, looking anywhere in the room but at any of the people in it. Alya noticed this, moving closer to her friend and taking her hand, giving it a reassuring squeeze. Marinette directed a small smile at Alya, but was quick to avert her gaze again.

 

After spending the rest of the day in hospital, the group all staying with him, taking turns in napping and fussing over Adrien, he was given the all clear to go home, with instructions to rest, take painkillers, and stay away from trees. The group shared some amused looks at the last one, apart from Marinette, who still looked incredibly guilty, which made Adrien sigh quietly. However, they made their journeys back to the bakery, Alya going home with the promise of visiting the next day, since she knew they'd probably want some family time.

As they made it back, Adrien sat down in the bakery, feeling a little weak and drowsy. "I hate to bring this back up, but did you keep whatever you found in Mari's cut?"  

Sabine nodded, walking over to where she had laid out the first aid kit, picking up the small shard, taking it over to Adrien. He studied it, furrowing his brows. "It doesn't match what the akuma was doing to everyone else... I think this was a different kind of attack."

Marinette gave a small nod, though she kept her gaze on the ground. "The akuma did seem to only want to attack me."

Adrien hummed in agreement. "It could be like when Hawkmoth akumatised me. He's trying to destroy us and our relationship, but by putting us against each other."

"Maybe.. Maybe he expected you to be really.. Scared of me and go back to him, then he could have used you to get my miraculous." Marinette's voice was quiet.

"Well, I'm sure he'd be devastated to know that I don't think of you any differently. I love you, Mari, and I don't plan on letting him come between us." Adrien reached out to take her hand.

She finally looked at him, smiling shyly. "I love you too."

Adrien's smile grew as Tom and Sabine cooed at them. "Now, we still have half of Harry potter to watch."

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WOO! Also don't judge me Nathalie cares about Adrien even if she doesn't necessarily show it. I hope you enjoyed the chapter, and as always, comments and kudos are very much appreciated!!<3


	22. #GetWellSoonChatNoir

Marinette paced slightly in her room, eyes always seeming to trail back to the expensive necklace on her beside table. She paused her pacing, chewing on her nail as she stared at it. She knew she had to return it, but she wasn't sure how Ladybug was going to come back from this. Sighing, she looked over at Adrien who was still sound asleep on her bed, the painkillers he was taking causing him to be quite drowsy. She winced quietly when images of him stood in front of her looking afraid, upset and bloodied up flashed in her mind. She knew he didn't blame her, but she couldn't help blaming herself when she knew that the stitched up cuts all over his body happened at her hand. She quickly moved away to the other side of the room, dropping down onto her computer chair. She held her phone in her hand, tapping it against her chin in contemplation. After a few minutes of that, she texted Alya and asked her to come over. After around 10 minutes, she came up into her room.

"What's up?" She asked cheerfully, before catching sight of Adrien. "Oh, sorry, I didn't realise he was sleeping." She said, much quieter.

Marinette shrugged. "The painkillers knocked him out, I doubt he'll wake up for a while."

Alya nodded, moving over to sit with Marinette. "So, how are you feeling today?"

"Better, I think." She paused for a moment. "Do you think we could do some kind of interview when Adrien wakes up? I think we need to clear the air." Her gaze trailed back over to the necklace. "And I really need to return that."

Alya's gaze followed Marinette's, looking the necklace over. "Of course. I haven't checked the Ladyblog yet, and I'm not too sure I want to. A lot of people know I was at the scene, and they're all probably wondering why I didn't record or post anything."

Marinette nodded slowly. "I'd hate to see what everyone's saying." She rested her elbows on her knees, and bowed her head, running her hands through her hair.

Alya frowned a little, wrapping her arm around Marinette's shoulder. "I'm sure everyone's just confused. We'll be able to clear everything up."

Adrien slowly opened his eyes, smiling a little at the sound of their voices. He slowly and carefully rolled over to look at them, blinking the sleep from his eyes. Alya then smiled back at him, nudging Marinette a little, who looked up at her when she did so. Alya didn't say anything, just nodded over at Adrien.

"Mornin', princess." He said roughly.

Marinette's heart fluttered a little, and she couldn't help but smile. "Good morning." She got up and walked over to the bed, sitting on the edge near Adrien, reaching down to kiss his head.

"I hate to ruin the love fest, but you guys realise it's the afternoon, right?" Alya asked with a raised eyebrow.

"It is?" Adrien frowned confusedly. "I don't usually sleep in this late."

Marinette began absentmindedly stroking his hair. "I think it must be the painkillers the doctors gave you."  

Adrien gave a small nod. "I guess so."

Alya smiled over at them, making a quiet cooing noise. That made Marinette remember that her best friend was sat in the room with them. "Oh, yeah. Me and Alya were thinking we could do a live interview on the blog, to try and clear up everything that happened. How does that sound?"

Adrien slowly sat up slightly, humming in agreement. "That's a good idea." He reached over for the glass of water that sat on the bedside table, taking a sip. "Shall we do it now?"

Marinette glanced over at Alya, who nodded. "Alright." Marinette got up, walking over to check that Tikki was alright to transform. The kwami smiled and nodding, so Marinette did so, looking around her room, eyes landing on the plain white wall on the other side of the room. "That'd be a good backdrop."

Adrien carefully got up from the bed and as Plagg flew over to him, he transformed. He groaned a little. "Leather and stitches aren't the best match, but Plagg is definitely helping me out."

Marinette glanced at him with concern, but at his reassuring smile, she nodded, stepping over to the wall, Chat on her heels. Once the two were stood in front of the white wall, Alya stepped in front of them, pulling out her phone, going live on the Ladyblog.

"Heya, peeps! Alya here! I know you're all asking about the events that occurred last night, but instead of me telling you, I have some people here who'd like to explain it themselves."

With a smile, Alya carefully turned the camera around, to make sure she didn't catch anything that would give away their location. As soon as the camera was on them, Ladybug smiled nervously. Chat noticed, so he decided to speak.

"I should start by saying I'm feline purrfectly fine." He smirked at his puns. "I've been to the hospital, and I was given the all clear to go home at the end of the day. Now. Ladybug wasn't herself last night-"

"Thank you, Chaton, but I think I need to explain this one myself." She smiled softly at him, before looking at the camera. "I got hit in the akuma attack. We thought it was nothing, but it turns out that somehow, there was a shard of some sort stuck in the cut, which.. Affected me. I can explain it by saying that it felt like I had no control over what I said, and every negative emotion inside of my was twisting into something worse, and I was saying it all without a filter. I never meant to steal anything, say what I said, or hurt Chat. We're working on figuring out what the shard is and what it means, but we thought we should clear everything up."

Chat nodded. "I'd like to add that I don't feel any differently about Ladybug, we've already talked this through, and I know that she would _never_ try to hurt me on purpose. We love each other and we have a strong relationship, which isn't going to be destroyed by an akuma. It hasn't before, this time is no different. Besides, I'm a superhero, it's my job to keep everyone safe from akumas, and people affected by them. I took the hits, because otherwise more people could have gotten hurt. I'll finish this off by saying: the Ladybug you saw last night was _not_ the real Ladybug. The real Ladybug is stood right here, a caring person, and we will continue to defend you all until we are safe from threat."

Alya, with a grin, turned the camera back on herself. "And there you have it. You heard it here first folks, Ladynoir are just as good as ever! Alya out."

As Alya ended the livestream, Chat and Ladybug released their transformations. Adrien walked over to the bed to grab some painkillers, taking them and sitting back down on the bed. Alya and Marinette joined him, Alya excitedly scrolling through comments people had been making during the stream.

"You guys did a good job. Everyone is happy to see that you're both alright and, oh my god, #GetWellSoonChatNoir is trending!" She squealed happily.

Adrien laughed softly, kissing Marinette's cheek. "That's great, I'm glad everyone understands."

Alya nodded. "You guys are trusted superheroes who have protected us for the past five years. Of course they believe every word you say."

Marinette hummed in agreement, but couldn't keep her eyes off of the necklace. She sighed, standing up and looking over at Tikki. "Are you alright for another transformation?"

Adrien and Alya looked at her confusedly, but as Tikki nodded, Marinette transformed and grabbed the necklace. "I can't leave it any longer." She explained, heading towards the balcony. "I'll be back soon."

With that, she swung away, leaving Adrien and Alya sharing confused glances, before Adrien sighed. "She clearly still feels guilty about all of this."

"Well, wouldn't you? You _were_ in hospital, Adrien. It might not have been her, but she still has the memories of herself hurting you." Alya shrugged a little.

Adrien nodded, frowning a little. "I know. I just wish I could help her."

She carefully wrapped an arm around his shoulders. "I think the best thing we can do right now is show her that we love her."

He was quiet in thought for a moment, but then smiled, slowly standing up. Alya watched him with a confused expression. "Oh god, I gave you an idea, didn't I?"

Adrien looked at her with a grin, and began walking towards the trap door. "Yup."

Alya shook her head in disbelief, and once he was climbing down the stairs, she shot up to follow him. "Dammit, Agreste, you should be resting!"

Adrien laughed a little, continuing to walk down to the bakery once he was down from Marinette's room. "Cats get restless easy!"

She groaned, catching up to him. "And you aren't a real cat. At least.. Not completely. Whatever your doing, I'll help, but only because I love Mari and you can't do it all. I do not condone your silly plans." She lightly jabbed his chest with her finger to emphasis her point.

"Sure thing." He smirked, entering the bakery. Sabine raised an eyebrow as she saw him walk over.

"Shouldn't you be resting?" She asked in a very motherly way while packing a customer's cupcakes into a box.

"Probably." Adrien said honestly, shrugging. "But I want to do something for Marinette. What's her favourite type of cake?"

Sabine hummed in thought, and went to give the customer their box of treats. When she returned, she looked at the two. "Chocolate, I think. She's always loved the classics."

"I can vouch for that," Alya added. "Whenever she shares her cupcakes, they're usually chocolate."

Adrien nodded. "If it's alright, can I make her a cake? Alya has offered to help, so I should be alright."

Sabine smiled at him. "Of course, I can help you too. There's still a few customers, but I'll help where I can."

Alya and Adrien reciprocated Sabine's smile, and Alya took Adrien's hand and led him into the kitchen. She and Marinette had made cakes here before, so she was able to get out everything that they would need. Adrien leant against the counter, still feeling slightly drowsy but wanting to do this for Marinette. He and Alya had begun adding ingredients into a bowl when Sabine came back into the kitchen.

"Isn't Marinette upstairs?" She asked, walking over to them.

Adrien shook his head. "She wanted to return the necklace, though I think she'll do a patrol, too."

 Sabine nodded, and grabbed an egg to crack into the bowl. "She needs some time, but I think she'll feel better soon."

"Yeah. I can't say I felt great after being akumatised, so I understand."

Alya froze, looking at him with wide eyes. " _You_ were _akumatised_?! Mari completely left that out of her explanations."

Adrien just nodded. "You know when she went missing? Hawkmoth told me she was dead, so I didn't have a good grip on my emotions."

"Did... You..?" Alya asked carefully, not knowing if she should ask if he hurt her. He caught onto the question. 

"Surprisingly, no. I attacked Hawkmoth, but he deserved it." He looked down at the bowl. "I.. Almost killed him, though. I would have killed my own father, if Marinette hadn't stopped me."

"You two are a strong couple," Sabine gently placed her hand on Adrien's shoulder. "You keep each other grounded. So long as you're with each other, you'll never do anything bad."

Alya smiled. "Yeah, Sabine is right. I've seen couples go through a hell of a lot less and break up. I don't think anything could tear you two apart."

Adrien allowed himself a small smile, and continued mixing the ingredients. "I think you guys are right." 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you enjoyed this chapter! I really love both Adrien and Alya's friendship, and Sabine being motherly towards Adrien so I just had to add it in. I feel like I left her out a lil here but not to worry, Marinette will be getting a lot of love next chapter!  
> As always, comments and kudos are very much appreciated!<3


	23. We love you Mari

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you sososo much for 4,000 hits, wow!! I hit it on my birthday (yesterday, august 8th) so that was a really nice birthday surprise! Hope you enjoy this chapter!<3

Alya, Adrien and Sabine finished Marinette's cake with only a little bit of flour ending up on Adrien and Alya. Mainly on Adrien. He swore that he would've fought back if he could, and Alya just laughed at him, while Sabine shook her head with a smile. But now, Adrien and Alya were waiting around for the cake to cook, and Sabine had gone back to serve more customers.

"I'm surprised Mari isn't back yet." Adrien said as he poured himself a glass of water.

Alya shrugged a little. "I imagine doing a patrol of the whole city would take a while. And she probably spent half an hour apologising to the shop keeper."

Adrien nodded and took a sip of his water. "I hope he saw the interview."

"Hopefully. You know, I think the Ladyblog is becoming the best source for all updates on you guys." She laughed a little.

"Well, it does get a lot of views, it's an easy way to get info out there. Which is why we're glad you run it." He smiled at her.

"Aww, Adrien, you're so sweet." She teased with a sweet smile, nudging him playfully.

It was only a few minutes later when the timer went off to signify that the cake was done, so Alya happily bounced over to the oven and put on oven mits. She pulled the cake out, setting it onto a cooling tray. She then admired it for a second as she turned off the oven.

"It looks amazing, even if I do say so myself."

Adrien nodded happily. "It is purrfect."

Alya turned to face him, groaning. "You even make puns out of your costume? _Really_?"

Adrien smiled smugly. "Yup. Mew love them, don't deny it." He winked, before grabbing some pink icing.

Alya just sighed, rolling her eyes as she took a piping bag and poured some of the icing into it. The two then spent a while trying to perfectly ice the cake: pink with 'we love you Mari' written in white. Adrien then grinned, grabbed some more icing and began piping as Alya watched with a raised eyebrow. He drew a small ladybug and a silhouette of a cat, putting love hearts above them. Alya glanced at it, and laughed a little.

"Has anyone ever told you how much of a dork you are?"

"Mari tells me all the time." His grin widened, as he began putting away the icing.

Sabine then walked back in, smiling as she saw the cake. "It looks great! Tom should be back soon, and we can put it in the lounge ready for her."

Alya nodded, picking up the cake before Adrien had the chance to attempt to do so. The two then went upstairs, while Sabine stayed in the bakery to tend to a few more customers and grab some other things. Alya placed the cake down on the coffee table, and as Adrien began walking over to the kitchen she rushed over to stop him.

"Nu-uh. You are going upstairs to rest." She stated sternly.

"I need to help set up!" He protested.

"Nope. You've already been up for way too long today. The doctors told you to _rest_ , you stubborn cat. Besides, Mari will get suspicious if neither of us are up there." She smirked smugly, since she knew he couldn't argue with that.

Adrien sighed, defeated. "Fine. But I'm only resting 'till Marinette is back."

Alya didn't reply, just turned to walk towards the kitchen, smug smirk still on her face. Adrien rolled his eyes, before walking back upstairs to lie down on the bed, deciding just to get under the blanket and close his eyes as he waited for Marinette. Soon enough, she dropped back down into her room, de-transforming and smiling as she saw Adrien.

"Hey, kitty." She walked over to the bed.

He looked up at her with a wide smile, sitting up. "Hey. How'd it go?"

"Alright. The shop keeper had seen our interview, so he was okay with me."

Adrien kissed her cheek. "That's good. Wanna go downstairs? We should probably get some food, anyway."

She frowned a little. "Shouldn't you be resting?"

"I've been resting all day, Mari." He lied, getting up from the bed. "C'mon." He held out his hand for her.

"I guess I am pretty hungry." She took his hand, allowing him to lead her downstairs.

There, ready and waiting, was Alya, Sabine and Tom. The cake lay in the centre of the table, and around it lay a selection of other pastries, a few bottles of pop and cups, plates, and utensils. Adrien reached the lounge before Marinette, so he quickly went to stand with the rest of them, smiling brightly over at her. Marinette's eyes widened, and she smiled widely.

"Y-You guys did all this for me?" She asked in shock, walking over to the group.

All of them nodded. "It was Adrien's idea." Sabine said softly.

Marinette quickly wrapped Adrien in a careful but tight hug, which only made his smile grow. "I love you."

"I love you too, princess. Now, would you like some cake?"

She nodded eagerly, releasing the hug to look at the cake, laughing fondly. "I take it you drew this, right?"

Adrien looked over to where she was pointing at the drawing of the Ladybug and cat, so he nodded. "Yup."

Tom then took a knife, cutting slices of the cake for everybody, putting them onto plates and passing them around. Everyone settled down on the sofa and talked and laughed for a while, back to their usual selves, and Marinette was quickly becoming her cheerful self as they continued to hang out. Alya even put on some music in the background, and the group enjoyed each others' company for hours, until they realised how late it was.

"Oh, wow." Marinette commented as she looked at the clock. She then turned to Alya. "If you want, and if my parents are okay with it," She glanced at them. "Do you want to stop for the night?"

Alya and Marinette looked at Sabine and Tom, who nodded happily, so Alya smiled. "Sounds great!" 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yep, next chapter is going to be entirely fluff. 
> 
> Also, shameless self promo- you can find me on other sites here:  
> Tumblr: messr-moony  
> Twitter: @messrrmoony (Yeah, there's two r's in the username)   
> Curious c(h)at: https://curiouscat.me/remus
> 
> If you couldn't tell, remus lupin is my favourite HP character. ;) Also, curious cat is a site where you can anonymously (or not) tell/ask me things! It'd be cool to get some messages from you guys, about the fic or just in general!


	24. Sleepover.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Marinette, Adrien and Alya have a sleepover.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Whoa I'm sorry this took so long! This is actually the second version I wrote because I weirdly had major writer's block over this chapter (I had the ideas, I just couldn't seem to write it), so I decided just to re-write it and luckily, that helped. But anyway, here is a chapter full of fluff. Also, shout out to Vivien (vivien0907.tumblr.com) for giving me some extra ideas for this chapter! They were super cute. 
> 
> Anyways, enjoy!<3

Marinette, Alya and Adrien all headed back up to Marinette's room after a little while, and all three of them collapsed onto the bed. Marinette lay in the middle of the two, and Adrien curled up to her, exhausted from the day, especially since he should have been resting. Marinette smiled down at him, kissing his head.

"How about a horror film?" Alya suggested with an excitable grin.

Adrien and Marinette scoffed in sync. "Alright, but I doubt we'll get scared. We deal with _real_ monsters, you know." Marinette smirked at her friend.

Alya raised an amused eyebrow. "Sure."

Without another response she pulled over Marinette's laptop and set up The Grudge. It wasn't the scariest film ever, but she knew there were quite a few jump scares, and more original horrors are always good. Alya started the film, and placed the laptop on Marinette's stomach since she was lying in the middle. Alya moved slightly closer so she could see the screen, and all three of them went quiet as it played. As soon as there was a jump scare, Alya noticed that both of them flinched, and she smirked. As the film progressed, Marinette and Adrien cuddled closer to each other, admittedly getting more and more scared. Alya, however, was mostly watching the two heroes, rolling her eyes amusedly whenever they practically jumped at some parts of the film. As it ended, Marinette closed her laptop lid and pushed it away, laughing weakly.

"It was hardly even scary."

"Yeah," Adrien added. "Definitely not scary."

Alya burst into laughter. "You two were terrified! Paris' great protectors were cuddling up to each other in fear of a horror movie. Amazing." She slowly clapped for emphasis.

"Oh, shush, everyone flinches at jump scares. They're called _jump_ scares for a reason." Marinette said defensively, pouting.

"Purrcisely."

"Oh, no. You're not starting with the puns." Alya only half-seriously glared at him.

That make Adrien smirk. "Aw, c'mon Alya, they're pawsitively clawesome."

"I think you mean purrty unfurrgivable." She scoffed, getting up from the bed. "Mari, do you have some pyjamas I can wear?"

Adrien cheered victoriously. "You made cat puns!"

"Yeah, yeah, whatever. To make you shut up." She waved at him dismissively.

Marinette giggled a little and nodded at Alya, heading over to the wardrobe to get out some pyjamas for herself and Alya, who took them with a grateful smile.

"I'm surprised Mr. Ex-Model here doesn't take up more room in your wardrobe." She smirked teasingly over at Adrien.

"You're hilarious, Alya. Truly." He deadpanned, getting up. "I'm going to go downstairs, I left some of my painkillers down there. Do you guys want anything?"

"Ooh, hot chocolate would be great!" Marinette said cheerfully, and Alya nodded in agreement. "Once I'm changed, I'll come and help you carry them back up."

Adrien nodded and headed down into the kitchen to make the hot chocolate. Once he left, Alya smirked mischievously and began plotting with Marinette, who laughed a little at the idea.

"He'll kill you, but go for it."

With a nod, Alya quickly got changed and headed downstairs. Marinette quietly followed behind, just to be able to witness it. Obviously, Adrien was expecting Marinette to come down to him, so when he heard the footsteps he didn't even bother to turn around. Alya quietly moved towards him, biting her lip to make sure she didn't laugh. Once she was behind him, she slowly placed her hand on his head. Adrien, being used to Marinette idly ruffling his hair from time to time, didn't even flinch, and smiled a little as he felt the fingers scratch lightly at his scalp, allowing a purr to rumble in his chest after a few seconds. That was when Alya burst out laughing, pulling her hand back. Adrien immediately blushed, turning around to look at Alya with a pout, and hearing Marinette's giggles from close by only made his blush brighten.

"Oh my god, you really are a cat. When Mari said you could purr, I didn't expect it to be so.. Realistic." Alya managed to say when she calmed her laughter down, but she still giggled a little bit.

"Oh, shut up. I thought you were Marinette." He crossed his arms over his chest.

"Aw, I upset the kitty cat." She giggled again, and Marinette came over, smiling innocently at Adrien. "You know, you're like the B.F.G, but instead of a giant, you're a big friendly house cat."

Marinette admittedly giggled even more at that, while Adrien turned back around to finish making the hot chocolate with a huff. With a playful smirk, Alya reached over to ruffle his hair again, laughing more as he ducked away from her hand. They were both sure that if he were Chat right now, his tail would be lashing around irritably.

"Consider it payback for the puns, cat boy."

Adrien grumbled to himself and finished off the hot chocolate, resisting the urge to spike Alya's with salt or something. If they weren't stood there, he probably would've. Instead, he topped the mugs off with whipped cream and passed one to each of them, not without giving Alya a slight glare, while she smiled widely in return. As Adrien began walking back upstairs, Marinette quickly grabbed his sleeve, so he looked at her with a raised eyebrow.

"Don't forget your pills, Chaton." She said softly and he smiled at her.

"I almost forgot, thank you." He kissed her cheek and then grabbed the box of pain killers, before heading back upstairs, Alya and Marinette following.

"So how come when she calls you cat nicknames she gets a smile and a kiss but I get glares and grumbles?" Alya asked innocently, smirking behind him.

"Because she's my girlfriend, and _she_ isn't teasing me." He answered, sipping his hot chocolate as he sat down on the bed again.

"He knows that I love him and his cat tendencies." Marinette smiled, ruffling his hair affectionately before sitting next to him.

"Oh, c'mon, I wasn't _teasing_. Just.. Being curious about my friend who happens to be part cat."

"Sure. Well next time you're _curious,_ just ask. I'd purrfer that." He smirked at her.

Undeterred by his pun, Alya reciprocated his smirk. "Alright. Does catnip work on you?"

"Yes." Marinette answered before Adrien could. "We had a mishap with it once. He gets _very_ affectionate."

"That, I need to see." Alya laughed at the thought, while Adrien groaned.

"You just gave her way too many ideas, Mari."

"Well, it's not like you hated the catnip." She smirked at him.

Adrien groaned even more, putting down his mug so he could dramatically fall back onto the bed. "How about we change topics?"

Marinette's smirk grew. "Okay." She said sweetly, getting up and walking over to her desk. She rummaged around for a second and then came back, hands cupping something Adrien couldn't see. He raised his eyebrows at her, and Alya as she seemed to catch on without any communication between them. Then, Marinette revealed some black nail polish in her hand and Adrien's eyes widened.

"No way."

"Oh, come on Adrien, it's a sleepover! This is what we do!" She gave her best attempt at puppy dog eyes.

He sighed, holding out his hand for her. "You're lucky you're too cute to say no to."

"I am the lucky one here." Her smirk returned. "Alya, I should have another bottle of nail polish, you can do his other hand."

Alya squealed happily and got up to grab the other bottle, coming back over to begin painting Adrien's nails too, With a roll of his eyes, he just let them get on with it, since it seemed to make them so happy. They spent a few minutes doing so, before moving away. Adrien then sat up and looked at his nails, humming in thought.

"It actually looks kind of cool." He shrugged.

"Well, yeah." Marinette smiled. "Black nail polish looks good on _everyone_."

"Definitely." Alya added. "But be careful not to smudge it while it dries."

Adrien nodded, deciding on lying back down. This time, Alya and Marinette joined them. The three began talking about anything and everything until it was the early hours of the morning, when they all began to drift off to sleep. And later on in the day, Alya was the first to wake up, looking over at the pair who had cuddled up to each other as they slept. She rolled her eyes, but smiled softly, thinking it was pretty cute. Being a journalist as she was, she decided she needed a picture of this so she pulled out her phone and carefully stood up on the bed to get a bird's eye view, and snapped a photo. Unfortunately, her phone wasn't on silent so Adrien and Marinette awoke to the sound of a camera shutter going off. Both of them immediately guessed it was Alya, so Marinette groaned and grumbled something incomprehensible before snuggling closer to Adrien, while he lazily threw a pillow from the bed at Alya, before slowly opening an eye to look at her.

"Send me that photo."

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You know what I love? Alya and Adrien having that fun, sarcastic friendship. Also, guys wearing nail polish. Love it. I hope you all liked this chapter, here are two things I want to say:
> 
> 1: I have written out some of the ending for this fic, we're close now, and whoa boi am I excited for you guys to see it. I've taken a slightly different route than you may think. Hmm. 
> 
> 2: Worry not about this fic ending, I've started another one! I'm super proud of it so far, and it would mean the absolute world if you guys checked it out. Since you all stuck around for the angst here, I think you'll like it! It's my take on Hawkdaddy's promise that season two will break the internet, paired with a civil war gif. It's called 'How the Mighty Fall' (I maaaay have been listening to fall out boy at the time, but hey, it suits the fic). I hope you like that one as much as you all seem to like this one! Don't worry, I'll be doing my best to update both this and that one regularly.
> 
> Anyways, I'll shush now. As usual, comments and kudos are greatly appreciated!<3


	25. Alleycat.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, here we are. The beginning of the end.

Over the next few weeks, Hawkmoth was suspiciously quiet, and while nobody said anything, they all had their theories. But as the time passed Adrien's injuries healed and with his improved health Marinette visibly cheered up. Adrien had even started to join Marinette on her patrols again, even if she kept a very close eye on him, and acted more cautious than usual. He definitely noticed it, but didn't bother mentioning to her and just showed to her in his own way that he was fine, which of course, she appreciated.

Marinette and Adrien wrapped up their patrol for the night, meeting back on Marinette's balcony. Marinette reached there a few minutes before Adrien, and she couldn't help but worry slightly. Luckily, that worry was fleeting as she spotted the silhouette of Adrien jumping back over towards her. She sighed with relief and smiled at him as he landed in front of her.

"Hey. Did you see anything?" He asked after placing a quick kiss on her lips.

Marinette's smile grew. "No, it was quiet as usual. What about you?"

"The same. Shall we head inside?" He asked, and she nodded, heading over towards the skylight.

As the two dropped down into Marinette's room they immediately de-transformed and lay down on the bed, not hesitating to cuddle up to each other. They lay in a comfortable silence until Adrien yawned.

"I'm pretty tired, how does a nap sound?"

"Well needed." Marinette smiled sleepily at him, and the two shifted so that they were cuddled together under the duvet.

"Love you," Adrien mumbled as he closed his eyes.

"Love you too." Marinette's smile grew a little as she drifted off to sleep.

Adrien awoke at the sound of a scream. He immediately shot up, listening as there was more distressed sounds coming from outside. He shook Marinette.

"Mari, akuma. You need to get up. Plagg, Tikki? Are you guys awake? We need to transform." He called out to the dark room.

The kwamis flew over, Plagg groaning. Adrien couldn't see well, but he was pretty sure that Plagg was being dragged by Tikki. "Plagg, claws out."

In a bright flash of green, he was Chat, quickly letting his eyes adjust to the night vision. Able to see better, he looked down at Marinette again, leaning down to pepper her cheek with kisses.

"Hey, princess, wake up." He spoke a little louder, and moved back as he heard her groan.

"Adr'n... Why're y'u wakin' me up s'early..." She slurred, trying to bury her face in her pillow.

He smiled at her, but quickly remembered why he was waking her up. "Akuma. We've gotta go."

She sighed, sitting up slowly. "Tikki.. Spots..." She yawned. "Spots on."

Luckily, the transformation sent a wave of energy through her, and she stretched out a little before standing up and heading towards the window. "Well, what are we waiting for? Let's go!"

Chat laughed fondly, following her over to the window. "Didn't take you long to change your tune."

She grinned at him as she walked across her balcony. "What can I say, I love saving the city."

With that, she swung away towards the sounds of chaos, and Chat wasn't far behind, vaulting himself onto a rooftop and running over in the same direction Ladybug had gone in. They jumped down into the park, and both hero's eyes widened as they saw the multitude of cats in the park. However, none of them showed life at all, sitting lifelessly around the park.

"Well this is a CATastrophe." Chat smirked.

That was when the akuma jumped down into the park, wearing an outfit resembling a cat even more dramatic than Chat's. The torso part of her dress was black and very fluffy, and the skirt part was very long and flew about in the wind. She also had a belt that went off into what resembled a tail, though her was a lot more fluffy but obviously fake, only moving around when there was a breeze. She also had a cat ear headband, and more feline looking eyes than a human should have.

"I am Alleycat! All cats in Paris will be mine!" She exclaimed with a cackle.

"Maybe you should sit this one out, kitty." Ladybug smirked amusedly, patting his arm.

Chat opened his mouth to reply, but Alleycat beat him to it.

"You will be mine too, Chat Noir. But first," She grinned sinisterly. "My kitties need something to eat."

That was when Nino was dragged out by people Ladybug and Chat assumed had been brainwashed by Alleycat. Chat immediately grabbed his baton, gripping it tightly. Him and Nino may have drifted apart over the years, but Adrien still cared deeply for the boy who befriended him and helped him to settle into school, and he had a feeling Hawkmoth knew that. He extended his baton to the size of a staff, twirling it around and standing in a defensive pose.

"There's no way I'm sitting this out." He growled.

The akuma just laughed, and with a wave of her hand the cats in the park all looked ready to pounce at Nino, who was struggling against the grip of the people who were holding him still. Chat then leaped over all of the cats and over to Nino, immediately kicking at the people holding him. They didn't react, so he tried prying them away from Nino with his baton. Alleycat laughed, and suddenly cats were running over to them. Chat moved quickly and on instinct, wrapping his arm around Nino and vaulting them away. The force of it caused the people to let go of Nino as they flew into the air, and the DJ immediately wrapped his arms around Chat's neck, holding on for dear life as they landed onto a rooftop. Glancing back, he saw that Ladybug had already began fighting the akuma, so he knew he had a moment to spare to help Nino. Once both of the boys' feet were safely on the rooftop, Chat stepped back a little, smiling at the sight of his friend.

"Are you alright, Nino?" The words flew out before he could stop himself. He tried not to widen his eyes at his slip up.

"You know my name?" Nino's eyes widened excitedly.

"I- uh, yeah! Alya, uh, she mentioned you!" He smiled, hoping that was plausible.

"Oh! I totally forgot you guys are like, best buds now."

He tried not to laugh. "Yeah. So, are you alright?"

Nino nodded quickly. "I am now! You know, Ladybug was right. Maybe you should sit this one out." He laughed a little, looking over at all of the cats in the park.

"I don't know, I'm not a _real_ cat. Kind of. I don't know if it would work on me. But I need to help, it looks like she's having a tough time."

Nino gave another nod. "Alright. Thanks for the save, dude."

Chat grinned. "It's no problem. Stay here, you'll be safe. I'll come and grab you once Alleycat doesn't want to use you as kitty chow."

Chat gave his signature two finger salute, before vaulting back down to the park next to Ladybug. He began twirling his baton around, using it as a shield to block the hits that Alleycat began throwing his way, which he assumed is what she threw at all of the other cats. He just continued to block them as Ladybug fended off some of the cats, and both of them tried to see something on Alleycat that the akuma could be in.

Of course, Alya still wanted to film every fight the superheroes were involved in. Usually, she stayed way out of sight, but since her boyfriend was involved in this one and she was worried, she tried to get closer to see if she could find him. Obviously, she trusted Ladybug and Chat and that they'd keep him out of harm, but still, she worried. They couldn't be everywhere at once after all. Unfortunately, moving closer just meant that she was spotted by Alleycat. Whose cats then stopped trying to attack Ladybug and Chat as she went silent for a moment. Then, she smirked.

"Yes, Hawkmoth." She said quietly, and Ladybug and Chat both raised an eyebrow.

Seconds later, all of the cats sprinted towards Alya, who froze in fear at the sight.

"Alya!" Ladybug and Chat called out in sync.

Ladybug immediately ran towards Alya, which Chat noticed and instead moved in front of the two to try and fend off the swarm of cats heading their way. With a worried look at Chat, Ladybug wrapped her arm around Alya and swung off to get her away from the scene. Spotting Nino, she took Alya over to the same rooftop and put Alya down, sighing with relief.

"Thanks for the save Ladybug." Alya smiled at her friend before wrapping her arms around Nino.

"Are you okay, Nino?"

"Me? What about you?" Nino asked as he tightly hugged her back.

Ladybug studied the two and chewed her lip in thought, before looking back down at Chat. "I hate to do this, but I'll have to leave, I need to help Chat."

The two broke their hug and nodded. "Of course."

"We'll come back for you guys when we defeat Alleycat."

With that, she swung back down into the park next to Chat, immediately helping him. "We need to wrap this up, I need to talk to you."

"I was going to say the same thing." He flashed a quick smile at her. "But, look, she has a cat badge on her belt."

Ladybug's eyes zeroed in on it and she nodded. "Good spot. You try and distract her."

As usual, the two worked seamlessly in sync to get the cat badge off of the belt, and Ladybug purified the akuma as quickly as possible. Without another word, the two made their way over to the rooftop that Alya and Nino were on. They landed in sync, their friends looking up at them immediately. Chat glanced at Ladybug and as she nodded he looked back at Alya and Nino.

"We need to talk."

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> me: comes back after like 3 weeks  
> me: leaves it on a cliffhanger
> 
> yes im still alive!! college (not university, im british. just before uni) started up, so ive been pretty dead. but here, finally, a new chapter!! also, nino makes his return!
> 
> im sorry the end of the akuma fight was so rushed lol i just wasnt feeling it anymore im soRRY school is killing me 
> 
> alsoooo i know i keep promo-ing myself (dont h8 me) but ive started cosplaying!!! all so far are miraculous, some voltron and maybe mystic messenger to comeee! it would mean the world if yall would follow my instagram for cosplay (me and my pal just took some Really cute adrienette photos that im uploading). It's @spacegracecoslay !! thank u all
> 
> as usual, comments and kudos would make me very happy <3


	26. The Talk.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> whooooaaa sorry for the hella long absence. college is DRAINING me. But i can promise that i will not abandon this fic, especially with the ending so close! I just finished writing the end, too, actually, im pumped for you all to read it! Juuust gotta write these leading up bits. This chapter definitely isnt one of my best, but it did require a lot of dialogue, which is evident. anyway! enjoy!

"Talk?" Nino asked confusedly, whereas Alya widened her eyes a little at the two.

"Yeah. Somewhere a little more secretive though. Mind if we take you guys somewhere?" Ladybug smiled.

"Of course we don't." Alya answered immediately, Nino nodding in agreement.

Without another word, Ladybug moved closer to Alya and Chat to Nino, wrapping their arms around the other's waist and taking off towards an abandoned house Chat and Ladybug had found once on patrol, knowing it'd be a good place to hide out for a little while. Once they landed there, Alya raised an eyebrow at Ladybug who gave a reassuring smile in return, whereas Nino was just grinning, looking around in amazement.

"This is so cool, dude. Hanging out with Ladybug and Chat Noir." He directed his grin at Alya.

But before Alya could say anything, Chat did. "Yeah.. About that. You've hung out with us a lot."

Nino furrowed his brows. "No offence, but I think I'd remember that."

"Plagg, Claws in." As he reverted back to Adrien, he gave a small smile. "Remember it now?"

"Adrien?" Nino's eyes widened. As did Alya's, but her shock came from the fact that they were randomly revealing themselves to Nino, too.

"Yeah. It's good to see you, Nino."

Nino wrapped his arms around Adrien in a tight hug. Adrien froze slightly at first, but then his smile grew and he hugged his friend back. "It's good to see you too."

A few moments later, Nino released the hug and raised an eyebrow. "You said us. So does that mean.."

As his gaze slowly trailed over to Ladybug, she smiled and released her transformation. Nino grinned again. "Mari! No way!"

"Way." Marinette laughed a little as she, too, was pulled into a hug.

As this hug was broken, Nino looked confused. "Alya, you seem awfully calm that your best friend is a superhero."

"Oh, I've known for sometime." She laughed a little. "But my introduction was less loving. I thought Marinette was cheating on Adrien with Chat, and Chat was cheating on Ladybug for Mari. It was confusing."

The other three laughed with her, until Marinette and Adrien shared a glance and their smiles dropped. Marinette sighed quietly. "But... There is quite a big downside to this."

"What? Is everything okay?" Alya cast a concerned glance.

"I guess we should catch Nino up to speed before we get into that. Hawkmoth is..." Adrien's voice trailed off as he dropped his gaze.

"Hawkmoth is Gabriel Agreste." Marinette finished as she took a hold of Adrien's hand, squeezing it reassuringly.

Nino's face dropped and he placed a hand on Adrien's shoulder. "Bro... I'm so sorry."

"It's fine. What's important is that we know who he is. But.. He knows who we are too. And I think today proved what me and Mari have been thinking... His attacks are becoming more personal."

"Which, really, is what we feared would happen if our identities are revealed." Marinette added.

"We really don't want you guys to be in danger because of us. We're hoping to make an attack on Hawkmoth soon."

Marinette sighed. "Well, we weren't. I wanted to wait until the time was right, but.. You guys are in danger, my parents could be next, and we don't want that. So, yeah, I guess we'll have to rush things."

"Isn't that dangerous?" Alya asked quietly.

"Yeah. I could be positively thinking, but I think me being his son is an advantage... There hasn't been an akuma for weeks. I've been recovering in those weeks. And Nathalie saw me in the hospital, so they must have spoken about it."

"Adrien.." Marinette looked at him with a soft glance.

"I know you don't like it, Mari. But he's using our friends and family against us, I'm the only thing we have against him."

"Your selflessness gets too reckless sometimes." Marinette dropped her gaze.

"Don't hate me, Mari, but I think Adrien is on to something. He doesn't have to do anything stupid... But... What if we stage a fight between you two, and acts like he needs his dad, or something." Nino shrugged.

Alya bit her lip. "You know I'd take your side usually, Mari, but I think they're right. Adrien lives with you. He knows that. If you two had a big 'fight' then Adrien wouldn't have a place to stay, and Gabriel might think that his vulnerability..."

"Could akumatise me again." Adrien finished as Alya trailed off.

"You were akumatised?!" Nino's eyes widened.

"I'll tell you later, Nino."

Marinette sighed, not looking up at the group. "It's too dangerous. Adrien's too close to this."

"Hey." Adrien placed his hand on Marinette's shoulder, smiling reassuringly. "I know you're worried, but trust me on this. The plan _will_ work, I'll be safe, and we can stop Hawkmoth. If anything goes wrong, I'll call you and we can fix it together."

Marinette sighed, before nodding. "If something is even a millimetre out of place, Agreste, the whole thing is called off."

Adrien's smile grew. "Of course."

He then turned to Alya and Nino. "We can get you two back home, and then we can Skype. If you guys came back with us and Hawkmoth saw, he'd know we've been planning something."

Alya nodded. "Yeah, sounds good. But how are you going to get us home if you think he's watching?"

Marinette perked back up, smirking. "Oh, please. We've been running around this city for _years_. We know all of the secret routes. Spots on."

"Claws out."

Both Nino and Alya watched in awe as their friends were transformed into the superheroes they'd admired all this time. After a few moments of their staring, Chat and Ladybug laughed a little before stepping closer to their respective friend and wrapping an arm around their waist. They all then set off, Ladybug and Alya taking the lead, Chat and Nino following closely behind. They leapt through the forest that backed the abandoned house, Alya and Nino both admiring the few as they went. They travelled around the outskirts of Paris, visiting places Alya and Nino didn't even know existed until they reached the two's shared home. They landed close to the door so that if Hawkmoth did happen to be watching, he would see Chat and Ladybug dropping the two off, which would seem less suspicious after the akuma attack.

"Whoa, dude, that was awesome! I can't believe you kept this a secret for so long!" Nino lightly nudged Chat, who laughed.

"At times it was pretty hard. Anyway, you two should get inside."

"Yeah, see you guys!" Alya grinned, and the two headed into the house.

Ladybug and Chat waved, before beginning their route back home. As they landed on Marinette's balcony they dropped inside and released their transformations, immediately heading over to the computer.

"We're going to need to think this through extremely thoroughly. I don't want to wing any of this, it's too risky." Marinette said as she sat in her chair.

Adrien nodded as he sat down next to her and they loaded up the computer. "Of course."

It didn't take long for the two to start up Skype and call Alya and Nino, who answered almost immediately. Alya grinned. "So: The plan."

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Annnnd Nino joins the squad! Hope you enjoyed this! Now that this whole intro to the ending is done with, i will probably be able to write the rest quickly (mostly bc i am so looking forward to it!)
> 
> as usual, comments and kudos as very much appreciated!<3


	27. The plan is a go.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ahh, here we goo. Getting suuuuuuper close to the end now guys. Here is a pretty angsty chapter, I hope you enjoyyyyy

The group spent hours on the Skype call, going over the ins and outs to finalise the plan and also to make Marinette feel confident with it. As soon as they were happy with it, and when they realised it was 4am, they decided to get some rest. Marinette and Adrien ended the call and made their way over to the bed, cuddling closer to each other than normal, Marinette burrowing her face in Adrien's chest. He gave a small smile, kissing her head.

"Everything will be alright, Mari."

"It better be. If you die, I'll bring you back to life just to fight you." She mumbled sleepily.

"Good to know you care." He laughed quietly.

"Of course I care. I love you. I want you to be safe." Marinette's voice got quieter as she spoke.

Adrien began running his hand along her back. "Hey, hey, I was joking. I know you care. I love you too."

When he didn't get a reply, he figured she'd gone to sleep, and the sound of her even breathing confirmed that thought. He placed another soft kiss onto her head before letting his own eyes close, drifting off to sleep relatively quickly. The two slept peacefully through the remainder of the night, but were rudely awakened by their kwamis nudging and poking them. Marinette groaned, trying to cuddle closer to Adrien.

"5 more minutes..." She grumbled.

"Paris can't wait 5 more minutes!" Tikki reprimanded, poking her again. "There's an akuma attack! Come on!"

"Didn't we just have one of those yesterday?" Adrien yawned, untangling himself from Marinette, sitting up.

"Hawkmoth must be making up for his absence." Plagg supplied, hovering by his chosen's shoulder.

Adrien nodded, rubbing his eyes with one hand, nudging Marinette with the other. "C'mon, bugaboo. Duty calls."

Marinette sighed, finally sitting up as well, her eyes remaining closed as she did so. She only lazily opened them, accompanied with a smile, as Adrien placed a quick kiss onto her lips. The two stood up, and Marinette froze, leaving Adrien looking confused.

"We... We said we'd put the plan into action next akuma attack." Her expression saddened.

"Oh... Yeah. Uh... Maybe Alya isn't at the scene. We can't do it without her." Adrien tried to smile reassuringly, but he wasn't convinced with it, let alone Marinette.

"Maybe. But... Just in case." She moved closer and cupped his cheeks, kissing him for a moment. When she pulled away, she left their foreheads touching. "I love you. Please be careful."

"I love you too." Adrien answered simply, placing another chaste kiss on her lips before taking a step back. "Well, we need to get out there. Claws out."

"Spots on."

Ladybug went to move towards the skylight, but Chat took her hand, gently tugging it so that she'd turn around, which she did.

"If... We do the plan today, I need you to know that whatever I say, I don't mean it."

Ladybug gave a sad smile and kissed his cheek. "The same goes to you, I won't mean a single word of it. But still, I'll be happy to kiss and make up once we beat Hawkmoth."

Chat laughed a little. "That sounds good to me. Let's go."

With a nod, Ladybug headed out of the skylight, Chat close behind. They followed the sounds of distress and quickly arrived at the scene. It was hitting central Paris, which meant there was a lot of people around. Chat and Ladybug quickly pulled out their weapons and began to attack the akuma, as well as looking around for Alya. Their hopes got higher as they couldn't spot her, but seconds later, she skidded to a halt at the front of the crowds, phone already out to record, an apologetic smile on her face. Chat and Ladybug's hearts sank. The plan was a go.

The two got into a fight with the akuma as usual, and everything seemed normal to the unsuspecting crowds for a while. However, Ladybug and Chat began making conscious efforts to act irritated with each other. Their fighting wasn't in sync as it usually was, Chat made efforts to trip or make miscalculations with his hits, sometimes missing the akuma purposely. Prolonging the fight out. Ladybug would groan and loudly sigh every time, and Alya made sure to catch it all on her live stream of the fight, sometimes making whispered comments like 'what's going on', just loud enough for anyone watching to hear, but as if she didn't want them to. And when Ladybug finally used her lucky charm, she and Tikki both worked to figure out a way to use it that didn't include Chat's help. And he acted annoyed at that, throwing in a few eye rolls and scoffs for effect. Once the akuma was cleansed, they didn't even fist bump, instead stayed a few feet away from each other, no matter how much they wanted to hug each other.

After taking a quick look at Alya to check that she was still filming, Ladybug took in a deep breath. She hated this plan. She then clenched her fists and looked at Chat, taking a forceful step towards him. She _really_ hated this plan.

"That would've been over quicker if you could actually fight!" She yelled, hoping her tone was convincing enough. The collective gasps from the crowd would seem that it was.

"Maybe I'd have a better chance to fight if you didn't want to hog the limelight all the time! You don't care about how _I_ fight, you care about how it makes you look! You don't care about me at all!"

Her inner voice repeating over and over again that this was just a plan, she scoffed, angrily pointing at him. " _I_ don't care about _you_? That's rich, coming from you! Your _recklessness_ is what has almost killed me on multiple occasions!"

"Then maybe you'd be better off without me around." Chat breathed heavily, struggling to fight off the urge to hug Ladybug.

"Trust me, I would. You're nothing but a useless sidekick." She hissed, wanting to scream that she didn't mean it.

Chat didn't have to act taken aback, he was. It was a plan, he kept reminding himself of that, but it still stung. He didn't have to try to sound hurt, either. That came naturally.

"Alright. This is the last you'll see of me, then."

" _Good_." With that, Ladybug swung off.

Alya gasped for effect and ended the live stream without a goodbye, before running after Ladybug. Chat stood where he was for a minute and when the press began to surround him he took out his baton and vaulted away. He slowed down once he was out of sight, to make sure that his father had enough time to see the footage and generally because he didn't want to go. He wanted to run after Marinette and hug her tightly. But, he knew that for them to be able to beat Hawkmoth once and for all, he couldn't do that.

Marinette swung towards an alleyway that Nino was already waiting in while Alya was running to meet them as well as uploading the footage to her Ladyblog. As soon as Marinette landed next to Nino she hugged him and he hugged back, knowing that she needed the comfort. He couldn't imagine saying those things to Alya, seriously or not, so he knew how tough it would be for her. Once Alya reached them, she took one glance and immediately joined in the hug.

 

Eventually, Chat reached the place he called home for most of his life. Taking in a deep breath, he decided to head in through the coincidentally open window of his fathers office. He stepped into the darkened room and wondered if his father was elsewhere, but his night vision told him otherwise. When he was about to say that he could see him, his fathers phone light illuminated the room. And then he heard the familiar voice of Ladybug saying ' _you're nothing but a useless sidekick._ ' And it stung just as much as it did minutes before.

"Adrien," His father began, but didn't turn around. "I had a feeling you'd come running back."

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I decided to jump straight into the plan instead of boring you by trying to write what it was, but if you didn't pick up on it, or are still a liiil confused about it, i'll give you a run down!  
> Ladybug and Chat prolong a fight, while also trying to purposely make mistakes and fight out of sync, making people think they are angry/upset with each other. Alya made sure to film this to ensure that Gabriel saw (which is why they were hoping she wouldn't be there so they could go through with the plan). Theeen, they staged a big fight, seen by everyone and on film, before 'breaking up'. Annnd that would give Adrien reason to go back home to Gabriel, and Gabriel would probably think he can use Adrien's vulnerability to manipulate him. bc hes a 10/10 dad, duh. 
> 
> Anyway! I hope you enjoyed this chapter, I'm going to go start writing the next one! 
> 
> As usual, comments and kudos are much appreciated <3


	28. Back home.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ahhhhhh only one or two chapters to go now guys!!
> 
> Enjoy this one!<3

"Thanks for the warm welcome." Adrien crossed his arms.

"Well, it's not like you're here for me. You're here because you had a fight with your girlfriend." He finally turned around to face Adrien. "Odd, by the way. You two seemed fine yesterday."

"A lot can happen in a night. Are you going to turn the light on?"

"I know you can see me."

"But you can't see me. Afraid my scars will remind you of what you did?" Adrien knew he was being defensive, but he also knew his father wouldn't expect anything less.

Gabriel, without saying anything more, went to turn on the lights, before turning around to look at Adrien. Well, Chat. "Better? Why don't you tell me what happened, then?"

Adrien raised an eyebrow, scoffing. "Wow, that's the first time you've ever said _that_ to me."

Clearly waiting for a proper response, Gabriel stayed silent, so Adrien nodded. "Alright. Let's have a proper chat. Father to son."

Adrien then de-transformed, Plagg immediately flying under Adrien's jacket. With a smile, Adrien sat down in the chair facing Gabriel's desk, and Gabriel walked over and sat down in his chair, waiting for Adrien to start talking.

"Where to start..." Adrien begun, before nodding. "Right. Yesterday! The akuma fight. Thanks to your stunt with Nino, Marinette wasn't happy with me running into the fight without a plan, because I wanted to save my childhood bestie. You remember him, right?"

"Fondly." The sarcasm was thick in Gabriel's monotone voice.

"I'm beginning to think sarcasm is the first viable change I've ever heard in your voice. Anyway. She was civil while we took Alya and Nino home, but yelled at me for being reckless and whatnot once we got back. It was ridiculous, so after our fight I slept downstairs. We hadn't calmed down before your next akuma, and it clearly just made things worse. Was that a sufficient explanation?"

"Mm." Gabriel hummed, leaning back in his chair slightly, folding his arms. "Well, you can stay here, since that's clearly what you want."

"And I wonder what you want in return." Adrien was beginning to wonder how much of this sarcastic, defensiveness he could keep up as he lifted up his ring hand casually to pretend he was investigating his nails as if they were interesting.

Gabriel sighed. "Adrien, you can drop this act. I know you're mad at me, I know you're being defensive and trying to use sarcasm as a coping method."

Adrien paused and looked at him. Was he trying to be... Fatherly?

"But now you're here. You can see what I see Ladybug as, and you can finally understand and help me."

Nope. Hello, Hawkmoth. Adrien decided to test how far he could go.

"Right. Well, it seems like I'm not going to need to be Chat Noir anymore now."

"Exactly-"

"But, I've grown pretty fond of being him. Maybe I'll keep hold of the ring for now."

Sighing, Gabriel nodded, knowing if he wanted this ring it was better to wait and have his son to fight  _for_ him than to fight _with_  him and take it now, by force. "Of course."  

"I'll be in my room." Adrien got up without waiting for a response and headed out of the office.

 

Marinette, Alya and Nino took in each other's embrace for a few minutes more until Marinette moved away, wiping her eyes with her sleeve.

"I should get home and explain everything to my parents."

"Alright," Alya gave a small smile. "We'll call you later, okay?"

Marinette nodded, before heading off without saying anything more. She walked home in silence, and Tikki didn't even try to talk to her, knowing that right now she just needed some space to sort out her thoughts. She made it home after a while, having walked slowly, fighting off the urge to just run to Adrien and hug him tightly.

As soon as she entered the bakery, her parents were at her side.

"Marinette, what happened?" Sabine asked softly.

"It wasn't a real fight. We staged it so that Adrien could get to Gabriel." Marinette was quiet for a second, before hugging Sabine. As soon as she did, Tom joined the hug and Marinette accepted the comfort.

"I'm just hoping it'll be over soon. It's so hard to not run over there and hug him." She sighed, closing her eyes.

"I'm sure he's feeling the same. It'll be over before you know it, sweetie." Sabine kissed her daughter's forehead.

 

Adrien closed the office door and let out a breath he hadn't realised he'd been holding in. God, he's always wanted to act like that towards his father. Well, when he was younger he still had hope for him, but as he grew up and especially since he moved in with Marinette, he began to realise his father's true colours, and ended up with a lot of repressed feelings. Despite that, it... It still didn't feel so great, the more the scene replayed in his head. Shaking his head, he began walking towards the stairs to avoid going back into the office to apologise. As he headed up to his room, he caught sight of the painting that still hung on the wall. Not like you could miss it. He'd often wondered why it was still even there. It was one of the only pictures of them together, sure, but it just wasn't... Nice. The black aesthetic of the whole thing, and his own gloomy expression just didn't scream that he and Gabriel had ever had a good relationship. Giving a quiet sigh, Adrien continued up to his room. Once he entered, he sat down on the edge of his bed, running his hands over his face as Plagg flew out in front of him.

"Yeesh, you were really... Something, back there. All that pent up rage."

"Yeah, thanks for the reminder, Plagg."

"Well, it's not necessarily a bad thing. He wouldn't expect you to come back crawling for his forgiveness, would he?"

"I dunno.." Adrien fell back onto his bed with a loud sigh. "I just wish I could go and see Marinette."

Plagg couldn't help but laugh. "The last time you were this dramatic, you were fifteen and pinning over your masked sweetheart."

"Seasons change but people don't, I guess."

"Obviously." Plagg began zipping around the room. "It feels like forever since we've been here."

"Tell me about it. I hope we aren't here for too long."

"Well, do you even have a proper plan yet?" Plagg turned to face Adrien, who shrugged.

"Wing it? He's obviously going to want me to work for him, I guess we use that to our advantage."

Plagg rolled his eyes. "Out of all my kittens, you've got to be the most stubborn, dramatic and unorganised."

"Well, at least I'm memorable." Adrien stood up to wander around the room, taking it all in. And it felt so different... Cold, detached and empty. Nothing like the cozy and warm room he shared with Marinette.

"I swear, being back here is making you act like your teenage self. So angsty. Let's get out of here ASAP."

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay so I wrote Adrien hella sarcastic/defensive, it feels ooc but i love it, it makes characters so fun to write sfdkshfkj
> 
> While we're so close to the end, I just want to say a huuuuuge thank you to all of you for the continued support, even when this fic really hasn't been that good (aka, most of it). You're all wonderful and I love each and every one of you <3 
> 
> As usual, comments and kudos are greatly appreciated <3


	29. The end.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This is how it all ends.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, here we are.

Marinette stayed with her parents for most of the night. They all sat together, watched films, trying to keep their minds off of what was happening. Exhausted from the day, Marinette was drifting in and out of consciousness so she decided to head up to bed.

"I'm going up to bed. Thank you for tonight." She yawned, before placing a kiss on her mother's cheek and then her father's.

"I just hope you feel better." Tom said with a small smile.

"I do." Marinette nodded, reciprocating the smile, before heading up to her room.

It was true, she did feel better. Until she reached the room, slowly sitting on her bed. Adrien's scent lingered, everything was the way they left it in the morning, and she felt a tear fall from her eye. Tikki quickly flew up to her face and nuzzled her cheek.

"He'll be back here with you soon, Marinette."

Marinette gave a sad smile. "I hope so. I should be comforting you, don't you miss Plagg?"

"I do. But when you often spend years, sometimes decades or even centuries apart, you know how to make every moment together count. We're used to it, you two aren't."

Marinette gently patted her kwami's head. "That makes me feel better. You two really are the definition of love."

Tikki smiled at her. "So are you and Adrien. It always makes me happy when Ladybug and Chat Noir end up together."

"Do they not always?"

"Not always. Sometimes they are good friends, some times couples, sometimes... Well, there isn't always good times."

Marinette tilted her head, wanting Tikki to continue, so she did. "Plagg and I.. We've both lost Ladybugs and Chat Noirs.. Sometimes before they've even revealed themselves. Sometimes after. And the worst of times is when, behind the mask, they were enemies.. That made the reveal tough, and everything after that even worse."

Marinette's gaze softened. "Oh, Tikki... I'm so sorry."

Tikki just smiled at her. "Like I said, we just know how to make every moment count. That works with you, too. So it's always nice to have a happy ending like yours and Adrien's."

Marinette placed a kiss atop Tikki's head. "You always know how to cheer me up."

Giggling, Tikki nodded. "Of course, it's what I do. Now, you should get some sleep."

Marinette reciprocated the nod and went to get changed. She decided on wearing one of Adrien's shirts to sleep in, since if she couldn't have him here to cuddle, she wanted to have some form of comfort from him. And even after the days events, the comfort she received in the evening helped her to fall asleep easily.

 

The same couldn't be said for Adrien. As expected, he didn't speak to his father for the rest of the evening, Plagg just complained about being hungry, and Adrien couldn't get everything that had happened out of his mind. God, he missed being at the Dupain-Cheng house so much. There, he rarely felt sad, and if he did, everyone was quick to comfort him and make him feel better. Here... He was left to wallow in his sadness. Sometimes he even wondered if his father had emotions, or if he knew how to comfort people.

Adrien ended up being restless for most of the night, getting in a couple hours of broken sleep. And when he awoke, it felt like he'd never even left. There was breakfast prepared for him, and unsurprisingly, he ate alone. He was almost surprised when Nathalie didn't come over to hand him a schedule of some sort. He was about to head back up to his room, when his father came out of his office.

"Adrien." He called. Adrien stopped walking, but didn't speak or turn around, so his father took it as an invitation to keep talking. "Now that you're here, there's something I should show you."

Adrien couldn't help but feel worried, like he should be ready to fight. Trying not to seem that way, he slowly pivoted to face his father. "What?"

Gabriel stepped towards him, and Adrien had to try hard to keep a relaxed posture, "It's best if I just show you."

Gabriel then continued to walk past Adrien, so Adrien began walking behind him. They passed the staircase and came to a wall, causing Adrien to raise an eyebrow. However, when Gabriel pressed a button that was disguised as a light switch, the wall slide sideways and Adrien's mouth fell agape as a staircase became visible. He shook his head and regained his posture as Gabriel began to walk down the stairs and he quickly followed. It was dark, and Adrien began to wish that he'd transformed before hand so he could see. However, that proved not to be an issue as they entered a room. Gabriel stepped in and immediately, a large collection of pure white, illuminative butterflies scattered around the room. Adrien's eyes widened as he stepped inside the room.

"So _this_ is where they come from." He commented idly, oddly awestruck as his gaze trailed around the room.

Gabriel nodded, and while Adrien was busily focused on the room, mumbled a transformation phrase. So when Adrien finally looked back at his father, he was instead met by Hawkmoth. And it took everything not to go into flight or fight reactions.

"Are you going to...?" Adrien figured his father would know what he was about to ask.

"Akumatise someone? Yes. I figured it would be good for you to see. Besides, without Chat Noir, this may finally be the battle that gets me my miraculous."

Adrien bit his tongue instead of commenting. Instead, he gave a hum of somewhat agreement, instead busying himself with looking around the room again. After all these years without any father-son bonding experiences, he suddenly decided he didn't really like them. He tried to block out Hawkmoth's monologue about a tormented soul or whatnot with thoughts of his own, hoping Marinette would be quick to react to the akuma.

 

That she was. Marinette was already scrolling through her phone aimlessly to try and pass some time when she got the news notification, and she gasped, sitting up sharply.

"Tikki, quick, there's an akuma!"

"Already? I guess this might be over faster than we thought."

"Yeah! Spots-"

"Wait! What's your plan?"

Marinette chewed her lip in thought. "I guess.. Deal with the akuma and get to Adrien. He did say he'd make sure he'd keep Hawkmoth busy so I could get to him."

Tikki nodded. "Alright. Let's go stop Hawkmoth!"

Marinette grinned. "Spots on!"

 

Adrien had wandered around the lair and had taken to leaning against the wall, staring over at Hawkmoth. His odd sense of awe returned as he watched purple light appear in front of his face in the shape of a mask.

"This is perfect, Ladybug is already there. Get me her miraculous.." He spoke, and Adrien assumed it was to the akumatised victim.

He stood for a moment more before realising that this meant the plan was in action, and he quickly stood up straight.

"Plagg," He begun, and Hawkmoth's gaze snapped over to him. "Claws. Out."

In a quick flash of green, Chat Noir stood in the place of Adrien, and Hawkmoth scoffed. "What are you doing?"

Chat didn't reply, instead took his baton and threw it at Hawkmoth. The baton hit Hawkmoth in the gut and caused him to stumble backwards, and then flew back into Adrien's grasp. He then extended it and began to walk towards Hawkmoth, spinning it in his hand.

Hawkmoth gave a slow clap, which caused Chat to halt. "Well done, Adrien, well done. This was all a plan, wasn't it? Well, you had me fooled. I should've just snatched that ring from you the second you walked back in here. But now, I guess I have to fight you for it."

Using his name almost made him want to stop. But, probably with a mental push from Plagg, he quickly remembered everything that Hawkmoth had done, and he clenched his jaw in anger. He continued walking towards Hawkmoth and attempted a hit with his baton, but it was then blocked by Hawkmoth's cane. Adrien decided to pull back his baton and spilt it in two, and tried again. In all fairness, Hawkmoth was a good fight. He managed to knock one baton out of Adrien's grip, and the loud clanking of it bouncing away filled them room. Adrien glanced at it, which proved to be a bad move as Hawkmoth used it to his advantage and knocked the other baton away from Adrien and jab his cane into his stomach. Adrien groaned and stumbled back against the wall, turning away from Hawkmoth, who slowly began walking towards him. Adrien thanked the echoing of the room as his footsteps were loud enough to allow him to quietly call cataclysm. As he felt the bad luck energy fizzle away in his palm, he clenched it and turned to face Hawkmoth again. And then ran towards him, opening up his palm and slamming it onto the cane. As it disintegrated in Hawkmoth's hand, Adrien gave a grin.

"If we're fighting, might as well make it fair." Adrien used Hawkmoth's shock to throw a punch, hitting him in the face.

Hawkmoth actually haltered for a second, thinking that this was his son. He then also thought that he was Chat Noir, and the one thing in between him and gaining ultimate power. So with that in mind, he threw a punch at Chat, and then also kicked the back of his legs, causing him to fall to the ground. Not wanting Hawkmoth to have any more advantages, Chat ignored the pain and was quick to get back up, going to throw another punch at Hawkmoth. However, he caught his wrist and twisted it behind his back, causing Adrien to turn around and call out in pain. Again, Adrien knew the fate of Paris rested on him not giving up, so he simply tried to use this to his advantage. He kicked his leg up at Gabriel, hitting him in the stomach. This made him lose his grip on Adrien and fall backwards, so Adrien spun around with another kick, this time hitting his face. Landing in a defensive pose, Adrien tried to ignore the flashback of being akumatised, and how it mirrored this fight, as that only made him think about how Hawkmoth was actually his father. Failing at that, his stance weakened and Hawkmoth ran towards him and gave a powerful punch which caused Adrien to once again hit the wall behind him. This time, he grunted as he hit it and then slumped against it, closing his eyes as he listened to the eerily loud footsteps coming towards him. But then, the thought returned that it was his father who was nearing him.

"Why are you doing this?" He asked quietly.

Hawkmoth's steps halted. Chat opened his eyes to stare directly at him.

"I'm your son!" He screamed, standing up straight. "But you wouldn't care about that, would you?"

Before Hawkmoth had the chance to reply, Chat spoke again, bitterly.

"You've _never_ cared about me. It's always been about you. You kept me locked away in the house because you wanted me to be an obedient son. You forced a child to be on strict, _harmful_ diets because you wanted me to be the image of perfection. You made a child jump into a schedule before I even knew the meaning of the word. You never got me a birthday gift, you were never even there to say happy birthday. You were never there when I was crying in my room on the anniversary of mom going missing, thinking that it was _my_ fault that she was gone, that you were so cold. You yelled at me for being late to photo shoots but not because you were worried about me, but because you were worried about your profit. Your business. Your work. Never your only son. And now. You made me think my girlfriend was dead all because you wanted to _use_ me to get some stupid jewellery. You made my girlfriend almost _kill_ me for the same reason. Didn't you ever stop to think about what that did to her, to me? Of course you didn't. You are _selfish._ And your selfishness has led us here, you're still trying to hurt me for this goddamn ring. Why, _dad_? Why are you doing this? What about the miraculous is so important that it's worth losing your only child over?"

Chat had balled his hands into fists as he spoke, tears filling his eyes. Hawkmoth looked truly shocked for a moment, but quickly went back to a more composed stare.

"Your mother." Was his only answer.

Chat couldn't help but scoff. "My _mother_?! You've spent years damaging the city, hurting civilians and hurting _me,_ and why? Because you think having 'ultimate power' will somehow bring her back? Or maybe that's just what you keep telling yourself, so that you don't see yourself for what you truly are. A selfish _monster._ "

He began walking towards Hawkmoth. "Well I hope it was worth it. You've turned your son against you, almost had him killed and hurt many, many people. Even if you did bring her back, she wouldn't love you. She would never love a monster."

He used Hawkmoth's shock to his advantage, punching him square in the jaw. The impact of the hit sent him flying to the ground. Chat angrily looked down at him.

"I'm giving you one chance to go peacefully."

That dropped the two into an uncomfortable silence. Chat was breathing heavily, seething. Hawkmoth was looking up at him, dropping the front he'd been using all these years. Chat didn't care for it at this point, and kept his stance, looking at him expectantly. Although, Chat could never have expected what happened next. Hawkmoth lifted his hand, which made Chat immediately clench his fist. However, when he saw that his hand was going towards the pin at his neck, he dropped his hand to his side. Hawkmoth pulled the pin away, forcing him to revert back to Gabriel, looking just as bloodied and battered as Chat did. Chat gave a small, shocked gasp when he looked down at his father. He'd never seen him so vulnerable and, despite everything, he didn't like it. Gabriel, however, closed his eyes, lifting the pin up to Chat.

"You're right."

  
_Keep yourself together, Adrien._ He thought, trying to keep himself thinking that his father might be trying to get him to put his guard down, giving him just enough time to snatch the ring from his finger. So he kept up his angry front, snatching the pin from his father.

"This doesn't mean that I'm anywhere close to forgiving you." He spat, but moved away from Gabriel.

A purple blur flew towards Chat, and he guessed it was Gabriel's kwami. The kwami then nuzzled against the superhero's cheek, chirping happily.

"Thank you, Chat Noir! Thank you for saving me!"

And back to truly angry. "Saving?"

Nooroo nodded. "I always knew you would."

Chat nodded, but glared over at Gabriel. Clearly, he had been forcing Nooroo into this. He huffed angrily, and began walking out of the room, Nooroo hovering near his face.

"Adrien," Gabriel breathed, and Chat paused. Sighing, he looked over his shoulder at his father, who was looking over at him. "I don't expect you to forgive me."

Chat didn't respond, and began walking back up to the house he once knew. Which is where Ladybug came bounding towards him, panting a little, having dealt with the akuma. Despite the circumstances of their last meeting, and the way he'd been feeling since, he didn't say anything, didn't even make eye contact, just moved Hawkmoth's miraculous towards her. She took it, her gaze softening.

"Chat.. What happened?" She asked uncertainly.

"He's alive, if that's what you're asking. He gave me the pin. This is his kwami." He pointed to Nooroo, who was resting on Chat's shoulder now.

"My name is Nooroo. It's nice to finally meet you both."

"It's nice to meet you too, Nooroo." Ladybug gently patted his head, before averting her gaze back to Chat. "Are you alright?"

He sighed. "Not really. I'll go out and get the police, you make sure that Gabriel doesn't go anywhere."

Her eyes widened in shock. "You're letting them arrest him?"

He finally made eye contact with her. "He's been tormenting the city for years, Mari. He's not going to get away with it and go back to his perfect life just because he willingly gave me his miraculous."

She nodded slowly. "Alright. I'll meet you outside." She gently cupped his cheek, kissing it, before heading towards the room Gabriel was in.

Chat headed outside, Nooroo moving to hide under the raised part of his collar. He informed the police, and they immediately headed inside the house, while Chat moved away from the crowds of people that began swarming him. He vaulted up onto a close by rooftop to wait for Ladybug, running his hands through his hair as he landed and sat down. Nooroo flew out in front of him.

"I know this was hard for you, Adrien. But you did what was right."

Adrien gave a small smile. "I know. I just wish that made it easier."

"Doing the right thing is never the doing the easy thing, and that's what keeps the good guys separate from the bad. Evil can only prevail if the good people do nothing to stop it."

"It's funny," Ladybug commented as she sat down next to him. Chat jumped a little, having not heard her come over. "Alya gave me similar advice when I first met her. She told me: 'all that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good people do nothing.' It was one thing that helped me have the confidence to be Ladybug."

She wrapped her arm around Chat's shoulders. "I'm proud of you, Adrien."

He silently leant into her touch, resting his head on her shoulder. He was quiet for a few moments more, and his voice was barely audible when he did speak again. "I snapped at him."

Ladybug raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean?" She spoke softly.

"I.. Said everything I've kept inside. I said some horrible things." He winced, burying his face into her shoulder, closing his eyes.

Nooroo flew closer again. "I was there. You told him the truth, Adrien."

"Yeah. I know he's still your father, and you still love him, but he _has_ put us through hell. But maybe your reality check, the lack of his miraculous and the time he'll serve could change him... Maybe you two could work through it."

Chat sighed quietly. "I'm... Not sure if I want to. Yet."

"Of course." She began petting his hair for comfort. Chat relaxed slightly at that, and the two were content to sit in silence for a few moments. Adrien's transformation faded away and Plagg and Nooroo flew off to speak to each other, which was when Ladybug looked at Adrien with a soft gaze.

"But whatever you choose, I'll always be right by your side."

Adrien stayed quiet for a few seconds before looking up at her. "So, how about that kiss and make up?"

Ladybug smiled. "That sounds good to me."

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The end.
> 
> Yes, i uploaded chapter 28 and then got a wave of inspiration and wrote this, and yes, i have 0 patience and decided to upload this chapter a few hours later. also, i have some questions! Did you expect this ending annnnd would yall like an epilogue? i still feel attached to this lil universe and i feel like ill end up writing time stamps (like in the time between the reveal and them dating?) so i was wondering if yall would like that. Anyway, get ready for me to get sappy!
> 
> In 6 short months to the day (for me it's 1:46am so it's the 21st of november, i uploaded chapter 1 on the 21st of may) i've written an almost 40k word fic. and in that time it's reached way over 5,000 hits and 200 kudos. this is so otherworldly to me and i am so, so, SO grateful to each and every one of you, whether you've followed this fic from the start or have just read it now. i have my moments, like everyone, where i fall into a slump and feel awful about my writing abilities but the multitude of lovely comments on this fic honestly keep me going. i even feel as though ive formed friendships with a lot of you guys (*hopes u feel the same so this isn't awkward*) and honestly, feel free to hmu on any social media! anyway, this fic started as a one shot i wrote after seeing a prompt. then i decided i could get a few chapters out of it. i still vividly remember uploading the first chapter and waking up the next day to 200 hits and wow, it made me ecstatic. and now we're here! ive had many, many doubts with this fic but im glad i stuck with it and finished it, and i hope you all have enjoyed this journey as much as i have. 
> 
> And, for the last time, comments and kudos would be greatly appreciated <333333

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you enjoyed the first chapter! Next chapter, Mari will act on Alya's advice. 
> 
> P.S It took me like 5 minutes to think of a name for the Akuma. Jesus, @ Thomas I applaud you for being able to think of so many.


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